NSF2026: EAGER: Material morphogenesis using biohybrid vesicles as building blocks

在NSF分子与细胞生物科学和综合活动办公室NSF 2026基金项目的支持下，斯坦福大学的辛迪·唐教授和斯坦利·齐教授致力于构建一种组织状复合材料，并应用生物学原理来改变材料的形状、结构和功能。具体地说，这项研究将开发能够执行基本拓扑转变或功能单元位置重排的功能合成单元。基本的拓扑转变在生物系统的形态发生中非常重要，如组织发育、伤口愈合和再生。利用合成组分实现拓扑转变，将为实现材料向形态发生的宏观重构提供新的机会，并导致新一类自主、自结构和自修复的工程生物材料(ELM)。该项目将为跨学科领域的本科生教育提供机会，支持胶体物理、材料科学、微流体学和DNA技术之间的劳动力发展，这在传统的单一学科培训中是不可能的。生物系统是建造复杂结构和规划形状变化的大师。组织的宏观形状变化，或形态发生，是由一组基本的拓扑转变(例如，两组细胞交换邻居的“T1转变”)组成的。目前人造材料的形态形成能力远远达不到生物所能达到的水平。该项目的长期目标是构建一种组织状复合材料，并应用生物形态发生原理来重新配置材料的形状、结构和功能。作为迈向这一目标的第一步，本研究的具体目标是创建一个由可诱导小泡组成的功能基序，并展示这些小泡中的基本拓扑转变。该项目预计将促进材料科学、合成生物学和细胞生物学之间的知识交流。它有望为研究既能传递化学信号又能传递机械信号的结构材料提供一个实验平台，其中微观的、元素的拓扑转变可以被放大，以实现材料形态的宏观变化。这个项目代表了生物学原理在拓扑转变中对材料形态形成的新颖适应，以及通过用最小的无细胞囊泡取代活细胞来识别驱动拓扑转变所需的最小合成组件和力的集合。该项目得到支持，以进一步扩大NSF 2026 IDEA机器获奖项目“工程生活材料”。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the NSF Molecular & Cellular Biosciences, and the NSF 2026 Fund Program in the Office of Integrated Activities, Professors Sindy Tang and Stanley Qi at Stanford University aim to build a tissue-like composite material, and apply biological principles to change the shape, structure, and function of the material. Specifically, the research will develop functional synthetic units that can perform an elemental topological transition, or a rearrangement in the positioning of the function units. Elemental topological transitions are important in the morphogenesis of biological systems, such as tissue development, wound healing, and regeneration. Achieving topological transitions using synthetic components will open new opportunities to attain macroscopic restructuring of the material towards material morphogenesis, and lead to new classes of autonomous, self-structuring, and self-healing Engineered Living Materials (ELMs). This project will provide an opportunity for undergraduate education in an interdisciplinary area, supporting workforce development at the interface of colloidal physics, material science, microfluidics, and DNA technology, not possible in traditional, single discipline-based training. Biological systems are masters in building complex structures and programming shape changes. Macroscopic shape changes in tissues, or morphogenesis, is composed of a set of elemental topological transitions (e.g., a “T1 transition” where 2 sets of cells exchange neighbors). The morphogenetic capacity of current manmade materials is far from what biology can achieve. The long-term goal of this project is to build a tissue-like composite material, and apply biological morphogenesis principles to reconfigure the shape, structure, and function of the material. As a first step towards this goal, the specific aims of this research are to create a functional motif consisting of an inducible vesicle, and to demonstrate an elemental topological transition in these vesicles. The project is expected to advance knowledge at the interface of material science and synthetic and cell biology. It is expected to provide an experimental platform to investigate structured materials capable of relaying both chemical and mechanical signals, where microscopic, elemental topological transitions can be amplified to achieve macroscopic change in material morphology. This project represents the novel adaptation of biological principles in topological transitions towards material morphogenesis, and the identification of the minimal set of synthetic components and forces needed to drive a topological transition, by replacing a living cell with a minimal cell-free vesicle.This project is supported to further expand the NSF 2026 Idea Machine winning entry "Engineered Living Materials".This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.