EFRI-CBE Topic B: Biofunctionalized Devices - On Chip Signaling and "Rewiring" Bacterial Cell-Cell Communication

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PI name: W.E. BentleyInstitution: University of Maryland Biotechnology InstituteProposal Number: 0735987EFRI-CBE: Biofunctionalized Devices On Chip Signaling and Rewiring Bacterial Cell-Cell CommunicationAbstractThis project is to demonstrate signal translation by employing device-based electrical signals to guide the assembly of biosynthetic pathways, cell-based sensors, and cell-based actuators within a microelectromechnical system (MEMS), and to use on-board electrical, magnetic, mechanical, and optical systems to feedback and guide the cell-based system towards user-specified outcomes. The target of this project is the cell-cell communication system mediated by bacterial signaling autoinducers in a process known as quorum sensing. The Principal Investigators (PIs) have created a computational model that captures the dynamics of quorum signal generation, receptor driven recognition, and uptake. This model, based on biochemical and biophysical processes, will guide the conceptual design of subsystem synthons assembled architectures that guide heterologous protein synthesis in response to specific biomolecular cues. Cells will be signaled to initiate biofilm formation and maturation. The MEMS environment will enable for the first time, an experimental platform for the design, construction, and testing of this cell-based signal transduction process. Moreover, this MEMS environment will detect cell function and, by guiding signaling pathways, change cell phenotype in a controlled and directed manner.Engaged students will pursue both fundamental questions and technological goals within a multi-disciplinary environment that encourages diversity and fosters cooperation. Students will learn sciences that range from molecular and cell biology to signal processing and be exposed to issues of device fabrication and use. The PIs will enlist guidance and support from industry. This research may spawn new efforts on device fabrication, embedded sensor systems, bacterial pathogenicity, biofilm formation, genetic regulation and signal transduction. Developments are envisioned that impact fields of medicine (drug discovery, synthesis, and delivery), communications (biofunctionalized microfabricated devices), and security (smart sensors).