1. Academic Validation
  2. Engineering programmable material-to-cell pathways via synthetic notch receptors to spatially control differentiation in multicellular constructs

Engineering programmable material-to-cell pathways via synthetic notch receptors to spatially control differentiation in multicellular constructs

  • Nat Commun. 2024 Jul 13;15(1):5891. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-50126-1.
Mher Garibyan # 1 2 3 Tyler Hoffman # 4 Thijs Makaske 1 2 5 Stephanie K Do 3 Yifan Wu 4 Brian A Williams 6 Alexander R March 1 2 Nathan Cho 3 Nicolas Pedroncelli 4 Ricardo Espinosa Lima 4 Jennifer Soto 4 Brooke Jackson 4 Jeffrey W Santoso 3 Ali Khademhosseini 4 7 Matt Thomson 6 Song Li 4 8 9 Megan L McCain 10 11 Leonardo Morsut 12 13 14
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • 2 Eli and Edythe Broad Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.
  • 3 Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • 4 Department of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • 5 Utrecht University in the lab of Prof. Dr. Lukas Kapitein, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
  • 6 Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
  • 7 Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
  • 8 Broad Stem Cell Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
  • 9 Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
  • 10 Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. mlmccain@usc.edu.
  • 11 Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. mlmccain@usc.edu.
  • 12 Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. morsut@usc.edu.
  • 13 Eli and Edythe Broad Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA. morsut@usc.edu.
  • 14 Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. morsut@usc.edu.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Synthetic Notch (synNotch) receptors are genetically encoded, modular synthetic receptors that enable mammalian cells to detect environmental signals and respond by activating user-prescribed transcriptional programs. Although some Materials have been modified to present synNotch ligands with coarse spatial control, applications in tissue engineering generally require extracellular matrix (ECM)-derived scaffolds and/or finer spatial positioning of multiple ligands. Thus, we develop here a suite of Materials that activate synNotch receptors for generalizable engineering of material-to-cell signaling. We genetically and chemically fuse functional synNotch ligands to ECM proteins and ECM-derived Materials. We also generate tissues with microscale precision over four distinct reporter phenotypes by culturing cells with two orthogonal synNotch programs on surfaces microcontact-printed with two synNotch ligands. Finally, we showcase applications in tissue engineering by co-transdifferentiating fibroblasts into skeletal muscle or endothelial cell precursors in user-defined micropatterns. These technologies provide avenues for spatially controlling cellular phenotypes in mammalian tissues.

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