PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Protocells spring into action

Protocells spring into action
2021-06-24
(Press-News.org) A University of Bristol-led team of international scientists with an interest in protoliving technologies, has today published research which paves the way to building new semi-autonomous devices with potential applications in miniaturized soft robotics, microscale sensing and bioengineering.

Micro-actuators are devices that can convert signals and energy into mechanically driven movement in small-scale structures and are important in a wide range of advanced microscale technologies.

Normally, micro-actuators rely on external changes in bulk properties such as pH and temperature to trigger repeatable mechanical transformations. Now, in a new study published today in Nature Chemistry, Professor Stephen Mann from the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry, and the Max Planck Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology together with colleagues Drs Ning Gao, Mei Li, Liangfei Tian, Avinash Patil and Pavan Kumar in the Bristol Centre for Protolife Research demonstrate a new approach that uses internal changes as the trigger for signal-based movement.

In a series of experiments, the researchers successfully embedded tens of thousands of artificial cell-like entities (protocells) within helical filaments of a polysaccharide hydrogel to produce tiny free-standing springs that are chemically powered from within.

The Team first loaded the protocells with urease - an enzyme that generates carbonate ions when supplied with urea - and then captured the artificial cells in a twisting jet of calcium alginate hydrogel using a home-built microfluidic device.

They discovered that the helical filaments start to uncoil in water when the urease is switched on, and that the speed of the lengthwise extension increased as more carbonate ions escaped from the protocells into the surrounding hydrogel. The coupling of endogenous chemical activity to mechanical movement was associated with the breaking of crosslinks in the hydrogel due to removal of the calcium ions by on-site formation of calcium carbonate particles, which led to the slow release of elastic energy in the spring-like microstructures.

Conversely, reclaiming the calcium ions by dissolving calcium carbonate particles using a second population of acid-producing glucose oxidase-containing protocells placed outside the filaments reversed the uncoiling and re-established the original helical pitch of the free-standing springs.

Based on these observations, the researchers used the helical protocell filaments as a drive shaft for performing protocell-powered mechanical work. For this, they attached a single "giant" protocell at each end of the coiled hydrogel and exploited the tiny dumbbells as free-standing micro-actuators (see image). Urease activity in the two giant protocells was sufficient to cause a lateral extension of the dumbbell. The movement could be curtailed if one of the attached giant protocells contained glucose oxidase, which worked to restore the lost calcium in the hydrogel connector. In this way, a range of different modes of chemical-mechanical transduction could be programmed into the micro-actuators by on-board processing of chemical signals.

Professor Stephen Mann, co-Director of the Max Planck Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology (MPBC) at Bristol, said: "We have a longstanding interest in protoliving technologies. One key challenge is how to interface protocell communities with their environment to produce functional relationships. The new work provides a step in this direction as it illustrates how endogenous chemical processes can be coupled to their energized surroundings to produce a programmable chemo-mechanical micro-system".

Dr Ning Gao, also at the MPBC and School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol added: "We hope that our approach will motivate the fabrication of new types of soft adaptive microstructures that operate via increased levels of autonomy."

INFORMATION:

Paper: "Chemical-mediated translocation in protocell-based microactuators,' by Gao N, Li M, Tian L, Patil A J, Kumar P B V V S and Mann S in Nature Chemistry.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Protocells spring into action

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Examining association of COVID-19 vaccination, facial nerve palsy

2021-06-24
What The Study Did: Researchers found no association between recent vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine and risk of facial nerve palsy. Authors: Asaf Shemer, M.D., of the Shamir Medical Center in Be'er Ya'akov, Israel, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2021.1259) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media ...

Association of COVID-19 pandemic with estimated life expectancy by race/ethnicity

2021-06-24
What The Study Did: Researchers estimated the change in life expectancy associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States by race/ethnicity. Authors: Theresa Andrasfay, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.14520) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media advisory: The full study is linked to this news release. Embed ...

Outcomes for COVID-19 patients 1 year after loss of smell

2021-06-24
What The Study Did: Patients with COVID-19-related loss of smell were evaluated for one year after the diagnosis. Authors: Marion Renaud, M.D., of University Hospitals of Strasbourg, France, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.15352) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media advisory: The full study is linked to this news release. Embed this link to provide ...

Incidence of bell palsy in patients with COVID-19

2021-06-24
What The Study Did: The incidence of Bell palsy among patients with COVID-19 was compared with individuals vaccinated against the disease. Authors: Akina Tamaki, M.D., of the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2021.1266) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media advisory: ...

Updated analysis of US COVID-19 deaths shows drops, disparities in average lifespans

Updated analysis of US COVID-19 deaths shows drops, disparities in average lifespans
2021-06-24
An updated analysis of American COVID-19 deaths throughout 2020 reveals an even bigger drop in average life expectancy as well as still-substantial disparities by race and ethnicity. Lead author Theresa Andrasfay, a postdoctoral scholar at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and coauthor Noreen Goldman of Princeton University first examined the pandemic's effect on American life expectancy in October 2020. Their initial study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in January 2021, showed the largest single-year decline in life expectancy in at least 40 years and the lowest life expectancy estimated since 2003. The updated analysis, which included the more than 380,000 US COVID-19 deaths in 2020 and used 2018 life expectancies as a comparison, ...

The mRNA alphabet: Identification of a new mechanism to cancer metastasis

2021-06-24
When cancers metastasize, cells from the primary tumor break away, travel through the blood or lymph system, and form new tumors in other body parts. Although metastasis are responsible for more than 90% of all cancer deaths, limited progress has been made in treating cancers that have spread. Besides DNA, RNA is the other molecule of life. For several years now, RNA has become just as important as DNA in understanding the book of life. Especially, messenger RNA (mRNA), the basis of the Covid-19 vaccines, has been put in the spotlight. Just as with DNA, in addition to the 4 well known letters (A, U, G, C), there are further letters defining the RNA alphabet or ...

New protein engineering method could accelerate the discovery of COVID-19 therapeutics

2021-06-24
Discovering and engineering nanobodies with properties suitable for treating human diseases ranging from cancer to COVID-19 is a time-consuming, laborious process. To that end, University of Michigan researchers found a simple method for identifying nanobodies with drug-like properties suitable for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections. They demonstrated the approach by generating nanobodies that neutralized the SARS-CoV-2 virus more potently than an antibody isolated from an infected patient and a nanobody isolated from an immunized animal. Nanobodies are small antibody fragments ...

Common plant fiber gel doubled rate of tumor eradication

2021-06-24
Many people don't realize that the trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi residing within the gastrointestinal tract--collectively called the gut microbiome-- are connected to overall health, and specifically to cancer. Manipulating the gut microbiome to produce "beneficial" commensal microbes, which protect the host from pathogens and can boost immune responses, among other things, could potentially help patients respond better to cancer drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of immunotherapy. To that end, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed ...

Cyclone study improves climate projections

Cyclone study improves climate projections
2021-06-24
Migrating storms and local weather systems known as cyclones and anticyclones were thought to contribute to behaviors and properties of our global weather system. However, the means to probe cyclones and anticyclones were limited. For the first time, researchers demonstrated a new three-dimensional analytical methodology that can quantify the way individual cyclones and anticyclones impact broader weather systems. This study aids longer-term circulation and climate studies, including how storm characteristics may change in the future. To many people, the term cyclone probably conjures up images of ferocious storm ...

Children's beat gestures predict the subsequent development of their oral skills

2021-06-24
A study published on 21 May in Child Development shows that the early production of beat gestures with the hands (i.e., gestures normally associated with emphasis that do not represent the semantic content of speech) by infants between 14 and 58 months of age in natural interactions with their carers predicts that in their later development, nearing the age of five, these children obtain better results insofar as their oral narrative skills. The authors analysed the predictive value of beat gestures, compared with flip gestures of the hands and iconic gestures However, the study did ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air

Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction

Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor

How game-play with robots can bring out their human side

Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease

UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery

New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis

XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion

Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors

Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture

Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy

New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer

Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support

T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus

Gantangqing site in southwest China yields 300,000-year-old wooden tools

Forests can’t keep up: Adaptation will lag behind climate change

Sturgeon reintroduction initiative yields promising first-year survival rate

Study: Babies’ poor vision may help organize visual brain pathways

Research reveals Arctic region was permafrost-free when global temperatures were 4.5˚ C higher than today

Novel insights into chromophobe renal cell carcinoma biology and potential therapeutic strategies

A breakthrough in motor safety: AI-powered warning system enhances capability to uncover hidden winding faults

Research teases apart competing transcription organization models

Connect or reject: Extensive rewiring builds binocular vision in the brain

Benefits and risks: informal use of antibiotics to prevent sexually transmitted infections on the rise in key populations in the Netherlands

New molecular tool sheds light on how cancer cells repair telomeres

First large-scale stem cell bank enables worldwide studies on genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease

Hearing devices significantly improve social lives of those with hearing loss

CNIC scientists reveal how the cellular energy system evolved—and how this knowledge could improve the diagnosis of rare genetic diseases

AI sharpens pathologists' interpretation of tissue samples

[Press-News.org] Protocells spring into action