Force-sensing artificial cells and tissues with synthetic DNA mechanotransducers.

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Artificial cells, micron-sized synthetic entities capable of replicating life-like behaviours, have a great potential spanning from the production of relevant biomolecules to smart theranostics. Bottom-up synthetic biology aims to develop a platform for generating them, but currently faces a bottleneck: the lack of environmental-sensing and communication capabilities, thereby restricting the promising functionalities of the cells. Of particular interest, there is no approach for implementing mechanosensing, which in turn is critical for the generation of responsive artificial tissues with potential applications in next generation smart implants and in vivo therapeutic platforms. DNA Nanotechnology offers unprecedented control and programmability of structures and their dynamics; the latter coupled to their ease of functionalisation and biocompatibility make DNA nanoconstructs ideal for mimicking biological machinery. This Ph.D. aims at constructing a novel class of fully synthetic DNA-based membrane-anchored mechanotransducers that can be implemented on artificial cells and responsive artificial tissues. By coupling changes in membrane tension with lipid phase separation, these anotransducers will induce biochemical processes in the cytoplasm of artificialcells such as protein production and DNA reaction cascades, ultimately providing a platform for engineering mechanosensing in artificial cells.