Programmable microbial ink for 3D printing of living materials produced from genetically engineered protein nanofibers

Anna M. Duraj-Thatte (), Avinash Manjula-Basavanna (), Jarod Rutledge, Jing Xia, Shabir Hassan, Arjirios Sourlis, Andrés G. Rubio, Ami Lesha, Michael Zenkl, Anton Kan, David A. Weitz, Yu Shrike Zhang and Neel S. Joshi ()
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Anna M. Duraj-Thatte: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Avinash Manjula-Basavanna: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
Jarod Rutledge: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
Jing Xia: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Shabir Hassan: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Arjirios Sourlis: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
Andrés G. Rubio: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Ami Lesha: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Michael Zenkl: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Anton Kan: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
David A. Weitz: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Yu Shrike Zhang: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Neel S. Joshi: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Living cells have the capability to synthesize molecular components and precisely assemble them from the nanoscale to build macroscopic living functional architectures under ambient conditions. The emerging field of living materials has leveraged microbial engineering to produce materials for various applications but building 3D structures in arbitrary patterns and shapes has been a major challenge. Here we set out to develop a bioink, termed as “microbial ink” that is produced entirely from genetically engineered microbial cells, programmed to perform a bottom-up, hierarchical self-assembly of protein monomers into nanofibers, and further into nanofiber networks that comprise extrudable hydrogels. We further demonstrate the 3D printing of functional living materials by embedding programmed Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells and nanofibers into microbial ink, which can sequester toxic moieties, release biologics, and regulate its own cell growth through the chemical induction of rationally designed genetic circuits. In this work, we present the advanced capabilities of nanobiotechnology and living materials technology to 3D-print functional living architectures.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26791-x

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