bims-livmat Biomed News
on Living materials
Issue of 2025–12–21
six papers selected by
Sara Trujillo Muñoz, Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien
  1. Recent advances of engineered probiotics for therapeutic applications.
  2. Engineering living bio-hybrid materials for sustainable l-threonine production.
  3. Living Hydrogel Bioreactors With Liquid Cavities Stabilize Microbial Consortia for Sustainable Algal Lipid Biomanufacturing.
  4. Biomineralized Bacterial Biohybrid for Coordinated and Self-Sustained In Situ Synthesis of Antitumor Photothermal Agent and Photosensitizer.
  5. Engineered Clostridium butyricum: a promising application of synthetic biology in comprehensive health.
  6. Vaginal microbe media (VMM): a novel medium to culture Lactobacillus iners and other fastidious vaginal bacteria.
  1. Biodes Res. 2025 Sep;7(3): 100039
    Recent advances of engineered probiotics for therapeutic applications.
    Lu Zhang, Na Chen, Haofeng Chen, Chaoqun Tang, Junyi Wang, Yan Wang, Yang Zhang, Hao Guo, Jifeng Yuan.
      A great number of multifactorial diseases, including neoplastic, metabolic, and autoimmune diseases, have been associated with microbiota dysbiosis. Recently, there has been an increasing understanding of the importance of microbiome and their impact on human health. Advances in synthetic biology have led to the development of probiotics as diagnostic tools and disease treatment approaches. In this review, we briefly summarize recent examples of engineered probiotic-based therapeutics in human diseases, including cancers, gastrointestinal disorders, infectious diseases, and metabolic disorders. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in developing engineered probiotics for disease treatments.
    Keywords:  Disease treatment; Engineered probiotics; Microbiota; Synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bidere.2025.100039
  2. Bioresour Technol. 2025 Dec 16. pii: S0960-8524(25)01773-0. [Epub ahead of print] 133806
    Engineering living bio-hybrid materials for sustainable l-threonine production.
    Shuqi Shi, Jinming Zhang, Shiya Zhu, Yu Sha, Qingguo Liu, Tianpeng Chen, Wenjun Sun, Wei Zhuang, Yong Chen, Hanjie Ying.
      Living materials integrating microorganisms and functional matrices have emerged as a promising platform for sustainable biomanufacturing and environmental applications. However, precise control of cell-material interactions remains challenging. Here, we developed an engineered Escherichia coli strain (THR007) displaying the lectin FimH, which specifically recognizes Mannose ligand on a mannose-functionalized composite carrier (CF-PEI-MM). This engineered living bio-hybrid material establishes directional and reversible adhesion via FimH-methyl-α-d-mannopyranoside recognition, enabling compact biofilm formation and selective, reusable cell-material assembly. During continuous l-threonine fermentation, this system increased production by 22.15 % and shortened the fermentation time by 5 h. This study provides a generalizable strategy for constructing programmable living materials that couple molecular recognition with microbial activity, paving the way for sustainable biomanufacturing and continuous fermentation.
    Keywords:  Engineering living bio-hybrid materials; Escherichia coli; Mannose-functionalized carrier; Sustainable biomanufacturing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2025.133806
  3. Small. 2025 Dec 19. e11039
    Living Hydrogel Bioreactors With Liquid Cavities Stabilize Microbial Consortia for Sustainable Algal Lipid Biomanufacturing.
    Zhipeng Huang, Lingfeng Yuan, Yihu Wang, Juan Li, Yujia Peng, Haixia Shen, Weiliang Dong, Ziyi Yu.
      Compartmentalized microbes and microbial consortia enable sustainable biomanufacturing, but the stability of these systems is frequently compromised by growth-rate mismatches and inhibitory metabolites. Here, we present living hydrogel bioreactors with liquid cavities that confine bacteria while permitting metabolite exchange with algae, thereby mitigating deleterious interactions and supporting lipid biosynthesis. A carbonate-bicarbonate buffer further stabilizes the culture environment. In a co-culture of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Chlorella vulgaris, hydrogel confinement alone improves algal viability and lipid yield, while further regulation with buffering increases lipid accumulation by over threefold relative to free co-culture. Integration into a continuous-flow photobioreactor sustains long-term symbiosis, maintains near-neutral pH, and achieves robust lipid productivity over extended operation. These results establish living hydrogel bioreactors as a platform for engineering stable, programmable microbial consortia in sustainable algal lipid biomanufacturing.
    Keywords:  bioreactors; continuous flow; hydrogels; microbial consortia
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202511039
  4. Adv Healthc Mater. 2025 Dec 17. e04077
    Biomineralized Bacterial Biohybrid for Coordinated and Self-Sustained In Situ Synthesis of Antitumor Photothermal Agent and Photosensitizer.
    Kai Jin, Yue Zhang, Yi Huang, Lin Yu, Yuwei Zhong, Luqi Niu, Yihan Wu.
      Synergizing photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) in a single platform is a promising strategy against cancer, but its efficacy requires simultaneous delivery of sufficient amounts of both therapeutic agents for PDT and PTT. Here, we develop a CuS-mineralized bacterial biohybrid, EcN-HT@CuS, that synthesizes photosensitizer (protoporphyrin IX) and photothermal agent (melanin) continuously in situ within tumors, relying on no external substrate supply. The biohybrid, engineered with inducible genetic circuits encoding 5-aminolevulinate synthase for synthesis of protoporphyrin IX precursor and tyrosinase for melanin production, is surface-mineralized with CuS nanoparticles to supply the Cu2+ cofactor for apo-tyrosinase. EcN-HT@CuS selectively colonizes and proliferates within tumors and is programmed to produce protoporphyrin IX and melanin on-demand, allowing sequenced PDT and PTT mediated by red light and near-infrared light, respectively. The combination therapy induced immunogenic tumor cell death, evidenced by robust infiltration of CD8+ T cells and a shift toward a proinflammatory tumor microenvironment. This work establishes a programmable antitumor biohybrid system that integrates targeted drug delivery, controlled phototherapy, and immune activation.
    Keywords:  antitumor therapy; biohybrid; live therapeutics; phototherapy; synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202504077
  5. Microb Cell Fact. 2025 Dec 17.
    Engineered Clostridium butyricum: a promising application of synthetic biology in comprehensive health.
    Kaiyi Li, Yao Kong, Tingtao Chen.
      
    Keywords:   Clostridium butyricum ; Application potential; Comprehensive health; Engineered bacteria; Synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-025-02901-y
  6. J Microbiol Methods. 2025 Dec 11. pii: S0167-7012(25)00274-X. [Epub ahead of print]240 107358
    Vaginal microbe media (VMM): a novel medium to culture Lactobacillus iners and other fastidious vaginal bacteria.
    Lauren A Roberts, David C A Gaboriau, David A MacIntyre, Julian R Marchesi.
      A more comprehensive understanding of the bacterial species in the vaginal microbiome and their roles requires their cultivation as pure isolates. However, difficulty in culturing fastidious species, particularly in liquid media, has limited certain types of experimental approaches for studying these organisms. To address this challenge, Vaginal Microbe Medium (VMM) was developed to enable robust growth of Lactobacillus iners within a relatively short period (36 h). A simplified version with fewer components, named VMM2, was subsequently developed. L. iners strains grown in VMM and VMM2 reached higher optical densities in a shorter period compared to NYCIII, supplemented MRS and Columbia broth. Bacterial cells cultured in VMM and VMM2 were significantly longer than those grown in NYCIII. These results indicate that VMM and VMM2 provide superior growth conditions for L. iners as compared to currently available media. Both media also support the growth of a range of other vaginal bacterial species. The development of these media facilitates liquid culture of fastidious bacteria from the vaginal niche, enabling broader experimental capabilities and deeper insights into causal relationships within the microbiome.
    Keywords:  Anaerobic culture; Bacterial growth media; Culture media; Female reproductive health; Lactobacillus iners; Microbial cultivation; Vaginal microbiome
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2025.107358
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