Dai Zhuojun, Huang Shuqiang
Institute for Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Front Chem. 2018 Dec 18;6:621. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2018.00621. eCollection 2018.
Soft nano- or microgels made by natural or synthetic polymers have been investigated intensively because of their board applications. Due to their porosity and biocompatibility, nano- or microgels can be integrated with various biologics to form a bio-hybrid system. They can support living cells as a scaffold; entrap bioactive molecules as a drug carrier or encapsulate microorganisms as a semi-permeable membrane. Especially, researchers have created various modes of functional dynamics into these bio-hybrid systems. From one side, the encapsulating materials can respond to the external stimulus and release the cargo. From the other side, cells can respond to physical, or chemical properties of the matrix and differentiate into a specific cell type. With recent advancements of synthetic biology, cells can be further programed to respond to certain signals, and express therapeutics or other functional proteins for various purposes. Thus, the integration of nano- or microgels and programed cells becomes a potential candidate in applications spanning from biotechnology to new medicines. This brief review will first talk about several nano- or microgels systems fabricated by natural or synthetic polymers, and further discuss their applications when integrated with various types of biologics. In particular, we will concentrate on the dynamics embedded in these bio-hybrid systems, to dissect their designs and sophisticated functions.
由天然或合成聚合物制成的软质纳米凝胶或微凝胶因其广泛的应用而受到深入研究。由于其孔隙率和生物相容性，纳米凝胶或微凝胶可与各种生物制剂整合，形成生物杂交系统。它们可以作为支架支持活细胞；作为药物载体捕获生物活性分子，或作为半透膜封装微生物。特别是，研究人员在这些生物杂交系统中创造了各种功能动力学模式。一方面，封装材料可以响应外部刺激并释放所载物质。另一方面，细胞可以响应基质的物理或化学性质，并分化为特定的细胞类型。随着合成生物学的最新进展，细胞可以进一步进行编程以响应特定信号，并表达用于各种目的的治疗剂或其他功能蛋白。因此，纳米凝胶或微凝胶与编程细胞的整合成为从生物技术到新药等应用中的潜在候选者。本简要综述将首先介绍几种由天然或合成聚合物制备的纳米凝胶或微凝胶系统，并进一步讨论它们与各种类型生物制剂整合时的应用。特别是，我们将专注于这些生物杂交系统中嵌入的动力学，以剖析它们的设计和复杂功能。
