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Artificial Organelles Implanted In Vivo – Latest Research

Mimicking biological processes by engineering biomimetic nanostructures represents an elegant strategy for addressing problems in various scientific fields, including materials science, chemistry, electronics and medicine.

Now, researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland have created artificial organelles (AOs) that can function as tiny intracellular implants in living organisms. Using an approach of combining biomolecules with artificial compartments, the team has designed artificial organelles (AOs) as cellular implants, with endogenous stimuli-triggered enzymatic activity.

The artificial organelles are based on tiny capsules that form spontaneously in solution from polymers and can enclose various macromolecules such as enzymes. The artificial organelles developed contain a peroxidase enzyme that only begins to act when specific molecules penetrate the wall of the capsules and support the enzymatic reaction.

Artificial organelles can be made to carry enzymes and other compounds that would then be triggered to release its cargo based on pH levels or other conditions inside the cell. By only releasing the cargo inside cells that meet certain conditions, artificial organelle-based therapies may end up causing little to no side effects on the rest of the body.

The researchers chose zebrafish embryos because their transparent bodies allow

excellent tracking of the cellular implants under a microscope when they are marked with a fluorescent dye.

After the artificial organelles were injected, they were “eaten” by macrophages and therefore made their way into the organism. The researchers were then able to show that the peroxidase enzyme trapped inside the artificial organelle was activated when hydrogen peroxide produced by the macrophages entered through the protein gates.

In this study, we showed that the artificial organelles, which are inspired by nature, continue to work as intended in the living organism, and that the protein gate we incorporated not only works in cell cultures but also in vivo,” comments Tomaž Einfalt, the first author of the article and graduate of the PhD School of the Swiss Nanoscience Institute.

The idea of using artificial organelles as cell implants with the potential to produce active pharmaceutical compounds, for example, opens up new perspectives for patient-oriented protein therapy.

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