A biochemical network can control formation of a synthetic material by sensing numerous specific stimuli

作者：Yeon Ju Hun; Chan Karen Y T; Wong Ting Chia; Chan Kelvin; Sutherland Michael R; Ismagilov Rustem F; Pryzdial Edward L G; Kastrup Christian J^*

来源：Scientific Reports, 2015, 5(1): 10274.

DOI：10.1038/srep10274

Developing bio-compatible smart materials that assemble in response to environmental cues requires strategies that can discriminate multiple specific stimuli in a complex milieu. Synthetic materials have yet to achieve this level of sensitivity, which would emulate the highly evolved and tailored reaction networks of complex biological systems. Here we show that the output of a naturally occurring network can be replaced with a synthetic material. Exploiting the blood coagulation system as an exquisite biological sensor, the fibrin clot end-product was replaced with a synthetic material under the biological control of a precisely regulated cross-linking enzyme. The functions of the coagulation network remained intact when the material was incorporated. Clot-like polymerization was induced in indirect response to distinct small molecules, phospholipids, enzymes, cells, viruses, an inorganic solid, a polyphenol, a polysaccharide, and a membrane protein. This strategy demonstrates for the first time that an existing stimulus-responsive biological network can be used to control the formation of a synthetic material by diverse classes of physiological triggers.

• 出版日期2015-5-15