Artificial cells

2023: Artificial cells created for tissue engineering

On December 5, 2023, researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland reported the creation of artificial cells obtained using synthetic materials. The new structures can be used for tissue engineering or drug delivery.

The project was attended by specialists from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, as well as the University of Basel and the University of Fribourg, who are located in Switzerland. The resulting cells are microscopic structures created by a process called biocatalytic self-assembly induced polymerization (bioPISA). Cells have the ability to produce a number of proteins, including actin, a globular protein from which microfilaments are formed (one of the main components of the cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells).

Created artificial cells obtained using synthetic materials

Artificial cells are important microreactors for accelerating chemical reactions and developing molecular systems. The findings of the study address a significant gap in synthetic biology by combining the world of artificial materials with enzymatic processes to create complex structures. This opens up new perspectives in the manufacture of materials that are not only similar to biological cells, but also function in a similar way. In general, as the authors of the work note, their achievement in the future will help in the study of issues related to the origin of life.

This is a simple, but at the same time effective way to create artificial cells. In the future, we intend to use proteins expressed in such structures to catalyze further polymerization, which will mimic the growth and replication of natural cells, says Professor Nico Bruns, one of the leaders of the study.[1]

2022: Artificial blood cells transfused to patients

On November 7, 2022, it became known that cells grown in artificial conditions were transfused to patients. This case was the first in the world when red blood cells grown in a laboratory were transfused into a patient as part of a blood transfusion experiment.

Blood cells were grown from donor stem cells. After that, they were introduced into the body of volunteers in the framework of the randomized controlled clinical trial RESTORE.

For the first time, artificially grown blood cells were transfused to patients

Principal investigator Cedric Gewaert, professor of transfusion medicine and consultant hematologist at the University of Cambridge and NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Our team is counting on lab-grown red blood cells to live longer than those that come from donated blood. If our trial, the first in the world, is successful, it will allow patients who now face the need for constant and time-consuming blood transfusions to need fewer transfusions in the future, which will help change their treatment. "

Only two people are known to have received blood transfusions using lab-grown red blood cells. They were closely monitored and no side effects were reported. They are doing well and healthy. The identities of participants who had already been transfused with lab-grown cells have not been released to keep the study anonymous.

The number of lab-grown cells administered varies, but is about 5-10 ml - about one to two teaspoons. Donors were recruited from the NHSBT blood donor base. They donated blood for the study, and stem cells were released from their blood. These stem cells were then grown to produce red blood cells in the lab of the NHS Blood and Transplant Advanced Therapy Unit in Bristol. Blood recipients were recruited from among the healthy NIHR bioresource members.

A minimum of 10 participants will receive two mini-transfusions at least four months apart, one of standard donor red blood cells and one of lab-grown red blood cells to see if the young red blood cells created in the lab last longer than the cells created in the body.^[2]

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