YIP - MICROBIAL PATTERNING OF SOFT MATERIALS
Abstract
Biological materials exhibit a variety of programmable, adaptable, and responsive functions enabled by complex communication between individual cells as well as between cells and the extracellular environment. Developing synthetic materials with analogous properties would be transformative to several fields including living materials, soft electronics, additive manufacturing, and tissue engineering. However, there is no general method for interfacing cellular communication and genetic programmability to material function. We hypothesize that extracellular electron transfer (EET) from electroactive bacteria can serve as a universal interface between biotic and abiotic systems, marrying the genetic programmability of biology with the chemical and physical advantages of synthetic materials. To validate our hypothesis, our overall goal is to pattern synthetic hydrogels by coupling EET flux from the electroactive bacterium Shewanella oneidensis to radical cross-linking activity. We will accomplish this goal through three objectives. First, we will optimize inducible control over specific EET proteins and associated radical polymerization activity in a synthetic hydrogel. Second, we will develop a multiscale model that relates gene expression to hydrogel mechanical properties. Finally, we will transform S. oneidensis with a genetic patterning circuit to autonomously and spatiotemporally control hydrogel mechanical properties. Overall, our proposal establishes a new method to pattern materials with implications in soft electronics, living/adaptable materials, additive manufacturing, and tissue engineering, while providing insight into the fundamental concepts underlying the complexity of biological tissues and a universal means for bridging the bioticabiotic interface.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA95502010088
Entities
People
- Benjamin K Keitz
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Texas at Austin