EAPSI:Engineering Artificial Cells that Sense a Chemical Target and Migrate in its direction

细胞迁移是生物学中一个非常普遍的过程：它不仅控制许多细胞事件，如炎症反应，组织再生和神经系统布线，它也是癌症，感染和过敏等疾病发病机制的核心。因此，阐明细胞运动的机制是理解细胞内信号网络和设计治疗方法的关键。许多涉及细胞迁移的研究都是在活细胞中进行的，活细胞是一个复杂的模型系统，因为它封装了大量的分子。这个项目的目标是在一个简化的最小系统中研究细胞迁移。类似于组装无线电部件以了解其功能机制的过程，该项目旨在将细胞运动的分子参与者重新组装在人工细胞样结构中，以了解这些分子如何相互作用。竹内正二医生？东京大学的实验室拥有微制造专业知识，可以使用微流体平台快速生产细胞样微区室。到目前为止，运动性的分子参与者已经确定，但是还不知道这些分子如何相互作用以及如何与细胞膜相互作用以协调定向细胞迁移。为了避免在高度交织的细胞环境中研究细胞迁移所涉及的复杂性，该项目旨在设计一种人工细胞，该细胞一次构建一种分子类型，组件数量最少，并且可以向所需目标迁移。这种合成系统由受控的脂质膜和蛋白质变量组成，因此可以严格解决长期存在的细胞迁移问题。工程细胞也可以作为一种仿生装置，用于在生物环境中递送药物和生物分子。NSF EAPSI奖由日本科学促进会（JSPS）资助。

A highly ubiquitous process in biology is cell migration: not only does it govern many cellular events such as inflammatory response, tissue regeneration, and wiring of nervous system, it is also central to pathogenesis of diseases such as cancer, infection, and allergies. Thus, elucidating the mechanism of cellular movement is key to understanding signaling networks within cells and devising therapeutics. Many of the studies involving cell migration are performed in a living cell, a model system that is complex due to the large pool of molecules it encapsulates. The goal of this project is to study cell migration in a reduced, minimal system. Akin to the process of assembling radio parts to understand its functional mechanism, the project aims to reassemble the molecular players of cell movement in an artificial cell-like structure to understand how these molecules interact with each other. Dr. Shoji Takeuchi?s lab at University of Tokyo has the microfabrication expertise that allows for fast production of cell-like micro compartments using a microfluidics platform. Thus the biomolecules can be readily packaged and studied in these engineered cells.Thus far, the molecular players of motility are identified, however it is not yet known how these molecules interact with each other and the cell membrane to orchestrate directed cell migration. To avoid the complexities involved with studying cell migration in a highly intertwined cellular milieu, this project aims to engineer an artificial cell that is built one molecule type at a time, is minimal in the number of components, and can migrate towards a desired target. This synthetic system is composed of controlled lipid membrane and protein variables, and thus the long-standing question of cell migration could be rigorously addressed. The engineered cell also could serve as a biomimetic device for delivering drugs and biomolecules in a biological environment. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).