Printing of Patterned, Engineered E. coil Biofilms with a Low-Cost 3D Printer
Printing of Patterned, Engineered E. coil Biofilms with a Low-Cost 3D Printer
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DOI：
10.1021/acssynbio.7b00424
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发表时间：
2018-05-01
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Meyer, Anne S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Schmieden, Dominik T.;Vazquez, Samantha J. Basalo;Meyer, Anne S.
生物膜几乎可以在任何可用的表面上生长，其影响范围从危及患者的生命到降解不需要的水污染物。由于生物膜的高度异质性，生物膜研究具有挑战性。一种生产标准化、可重复和图案化生物膜材料的方法可能是生物膜研究的布恩，并允许全新的工程应用。在这里，我们提出了这样一种方法，将3D打印与基因工程相结合。我们制作了一台低成本的3D打印机原型，它可以打印生物墨水，这是一种在藻酸盐溶液中的细菌悬浮液，可以在含钙基质上固化。我们3D打印了不同形状和离散层的大肠杆菌，之后细胞在打印基质中存活至少1周。当印刷的细菌被诱导形成卷曲纤维时，E.大肠杆菌生物膜，它们保持粘附到印刷基底上，并且即使在用基质溶解剂处理后也稳定地空间图案化，这表明已经形成了生物膜模拟。这项工作是第一次展示图案化的、生物膜启发的生命材料，这些材料是通过对卷曲形成的遗传控制结合3D打印的空间控制而产生的。这些材料可用作水过滤、金属离子螯合或土木工程等应用中的活性功能材料，并可能用作某些含卷曲生物膜的可降解模型。
Biofilms can grow on virtually any surface available, with impacts ranging from endangering the lives of patients to degrading unwanted water contaminants. Biofilm research is challenging due to the high degree of biofilm heterogeneity. A method for the production of standardized, reproducible, and patterned biofilm-inspired materials could be a boon for biofilm research and allow for completely new engineering applications. Here, we present such a method, combining 3D printing with genetic engineering. We prototyped a low-cost 3D printer that prints bioink, a suspension of bacteria in a solution of alginate that solidifies on a calcium-containing substrate. We 3D-printed Escherichia coli in different shapes and in discrete layers, after which the cells survived in the printing matrix for at least 1 week. When printed bacteria were induced to form curli fibers, the major proteinaceous extracellular component of E. coli biofilms, they remained adherent to the printing substrate and stably spatially patterned even after treatment with a matrix-dissolving agent, indicating that a biofilm-mimicking had formed. This work is the first demonstration of patterned, biofilm-inspired living materials that are produced by genetic control over curli formation in combination with spatial control by 3D printing. These materials could be used as living, functional materials in applications such as water filtration, metal ion sequestration, or civil engineering, and potentially as standardizable models for certain curli-containing biofilms.