bims-livmat 2025-12-14 papers

Z Naturforsch C J Biosci. 2025 Dec 11.

Engineered living materials: emerging frontiers in therapeutic innovation and management of skin disorders.

Rideb Chakraborty, Naureen Afrose, Sourav Ghosh, Bhupendra Prajapati, Biswajit Basu, Sudarshan Singh.

Engineered living material (ELM) is a new paradigm in biomaterials science that merges synthetic biology with materials engineering to create dynamic, responsive systems with living functionalities. This review explores to what extent ELMs can be developed as novel therapeutic agents for dermal complications including chronic wounds, burns, infections, and dermatological disorders. By integrating engineered microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi, within biocompatible matrices, ELMs offer unprecedented capabilities for real-time sensing, adaptive responses, and localized therapeutic delivery. These materials can be formulated to release bioactive compounds, including antimicrobial, growth, or immunomodulatory peptides, in response to well defined environmental cues that address the underlying complexity of the pathophysiology of skin related conditions. ELMs have self-healing features and can remodel their structure to induce tissue regeneration and repair dynamically. This review summarizes recent progress in ELM design, including genetic circuit engineering, scaffold optimization, and biocompatibility enhancements that collectively enable precise control over their therapeutic functions. The clinical translation challenges including biosafety, scalability, and regulatory issues have been outlined. ELMs bridge the gap between synthetic biology and dermatology, by which ELMs have potential to be used as the next generation therapy platforms, empowered with personalized, sustainable, and efficacious treatments for dermal complications.

Keywords: biocompatibility enhancements; dermal complications; engineered living materials; engineered microorganisms; genetic circuit engineering

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/znc-2025-0208

Biomater Adv. 2025 Dec 08. pii: S2772-9508(25)00480-7. [Epub ahead of print]181 214653

Influence of mechanical properties of agarose hydrogels on bacterial growth and secretory activity.

L Dupont, V S Tadimarri, R Buret, S Sankaran, L Picton, A M Jonas, K Glinel.

Engineered living materials (ELMs) rely on the ability to control cell behavior in material systems. ELMs containing bacteria secreting beneficial molecules are being developed for therapeutic purposes. Using commensal strains embedded in physically cross-linked agarose hydrogels, we systematically investigate how gel rigidity and initial bacterial density affect the morphology of bacterial colonies and their secretory function. Although often considered independently, these parameters jointly define the microscale environment experienced by embedded cells, influencing nutrient access, mechanical interactions, and potential cell-to-cell communication. We show that matrix rigidity effectively tunes aggregate morphology, modulating their shape and compactness, without compromising bacterial growth or secretion. In parallel, initial bacterial density determines the biomass accumulation dynamics and spatial distribution of aggregates, which in turn influence the onset and temporal profile of secretory activity, without altering its final magnitude. This decoupling between structural organization and secretory output opens new possibilities for engineering ELMs with tailored architectures and prolonged secretory and release activity.

Keywords: Cell density; Cell encapsulation; Elafin; Engineered living material; L. plantarum; Matrix stiffness; Probiotic; S. epidermidis; Secretion

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioadv.2025.214653

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Dec 04. pii: S0141-8130(25)10073-1. [Epub ahead of print]337(Pt 1): 149516

Leak-free encapsulation of EGF-expressing yeast in a hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel for diabetes wound healing.

Xiaofang Sun, Jingjing Shu, Jian'an He, Jingwen Cai, Xuefeng Xu, Fen Yan, Fang Luo, Da Huang, Yuanzi Wu, Zuquan Weng.

The integration of living cells into hydrogels offers a promising approach to enhance functionality of biomaterials for biomedical applications while protecting the encapsulated cells. In this study, we developed a living yeast-based system for in situ production of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to address the challenges associated with diabetic wound healing. Our approach involves surface-initiated polymerization of hyaluronic acid methacrylate (HAMA) from the engineered yeast surface, followed by photo-crosslinking to form a living hydrogel embedded with viable yeast cells. These cells function both as bioactive components and structural anchors within the hydrogel. We demonstrate that the yeast cells remain fully encapsulated for at least 7 days, maintaining high viability and sustained EGF expression with controlled release in vitro. In vitro assays showed that the hydrogel significantly promotes the proliferation and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), resulting in a ~ 20 % increase in proliferation and a ~ 30 % enhancement in migration rate compared to control groups. In vivo evaluation using a diabetic mouse model confirmed that the hydrogel accelerates chronic wound healing, as indicated by improved tissue regeneration and reduced healing time. Specifically, wounds treated with the ELH treated wounds reached a ~ 96 % closure rate by day 14, outperforming a commercially dressing. This leak-free, living-hydrogel platform provides a versatile route to localized, cell-based therapy and holds promise for regenerative medicine and advanced wound care.

Keywords: Cell surface-initiated polymerization; Diabetic wound healing; Living hydrogel

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.149516