bims-livmat Biomed News
on Living materials
Issue of 2026–06–07
fifteen papers selected by
Sara Trujillo Muñoz, Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien
  1. Engineered Bacteria as Living Materials for Oral Delivery of Peptide Drugs.
  2. Enabling Clinical Translation of Oral Probiotics Through Formulation Engineering and Scalable Manufacturing.
  3. Development strategies for engineered live biotherapeutic products for metabolic diseases.
  4. Living buildings with living electronics: towards biologically intelligent biohybrids.
  5. Bottom-Up Synthetic Biology for Artificial Cell Design: From Scaffold Materials to Functional Integration.
  6. Light-based 3D printing of mechanoluminescent living gels loaded with dinoflagellates.
  7. Alginate Microcapsules Incorporating Recombinant Lactococcus lactis-Montmorillonite Complexes Enhance Bacterial Survival and Restore Intestinal Homeostasis in ETEC-Challenged Mice.
  8. Topology Optimization of 3D-Printed Mycelium Hydrogels.
  9. Leveraging the bacteria for enhanced cancer immunotherapy: from a perspective of synthetic biology.
  10. Next-generation genetically encoded biosensors for spatiotemporal intracellular pH monitoring, mapping, and profiling.
  11. Toward synthetic biology in mushroom-forming Agaricomycete fungi: from tools to applications.
  12. Bioinspired and living multiscale composites for regenerative medicine in the treatment of surgical site infections.
  13. Development of Bacillus subtilis cell factories for nutraceuticals production.
  14. Bacterial engineering for cancer therapy.
  15. Harnessing wetting transitions to program dual-mode antibacterial textiles.
  1. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2026 Jun 03.
    Engineered Bacteria as Living Materials for Oral Delivery of Peptide Drugs.
    Lu Yu, Xiao Han, Jinyuan Liu, Xuehai Yan, Tianyu Li.
      Peptide drugs play a crucial role in treating numerous major diseases due to their high bioactivity, specificity, and biosafety. However, their oral delivery is severely limited by gastric acidity, enzymatic degradation, and poor intestinal absorption, leading to extremely low bioavailability. In recent years, bacterium has emerged as a promising drug delivery platform. Engineered bacteria can colonize the gastrointestinal tract, enabling in situ synthesis and release of therapeutic peptides, thereby offering an effective strategy to overcome the bottlenecks in oral peptide delivery. This review summarizes recent advances in engineered bacteria as "living functional materials" for oral peptide delivery, focusing on the optimization of chassis cells and the mechanisms of peptide release. It systematically outlines their therapeutic applications in metabolic, inflammatory, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Finally, we discuss the emerging potential of intelligent engineered bacterial delivery systems to drive in situ peptide self-assembly, expanding the boundaries of biomaterials and supporting the development of next-generation smart, responsive, and programmable oral peptide delivery systems.
    Keywords:  controlled release; engineered bacteria; oral delivery; peptide; self-assembly; synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6c06551
  2. Biotechnol J. 2026 Jun;21(6): e70253
    Enabling Clinical Translation of Oral Probiotics Through Formulation Engineering and Scalable Manufacturing.
    Junyu Liu, Yuqi Zhang, Yuqing Huang, Xiaobin Li, Xiangxuan Huang, Xin-Hui Xing, Can Yang Zhang.
      Oral probiotics, as living therapeutics, hold considerable promise for modulating host health and preventing diseases, with substantial potential for industrial and clinical applications. However, their efficacy is substantially limited by gastrointestinal degradation and inadequate colonization, and the oversimplified linear correlation between strain survival and therapeutic efficacy, further hinder their clinical translation. This review first provides a systematic overview of current formulation approaches in oral probiotics, encompassing advanced coating techniques based on electrostatic, covalent, coordinate, bio-recognitive interactions, and synthetic biology-driven strain engineering. We emphasize the functional output of probiotic formulations as the core therapeutic driver, rather than merely structural protection. Then, the scalable manufacturing platforms including high-density fermentation and microfluidic encapsulation are summarized. The advantages and limitations of these approaches are critically assessed with regard to viability protection, targeting efficacy, industrial feasibility, and functional output for diverse diseases including colorectal cancer (CRC), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), metabolic disorders, and neuroinflammatory conditions. Looking ahead, the convergence of multiple technological platforms is expected to drive the development of next-generation probiotic formulations. We believe that intelligently engineered oral probiotics are poised to become a safe, effective and personalized therapeutics, paving the way for their clinical adoption in precision medicine.
    Keywords:  drug delivery; formulation engineering; industrial translation; living therapeutics; oral probiotics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70253
  3. Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2026 Jun 05. 1-21
    Development strategies for engineered live biotherapeutic products for metabolic diseases.
    Saebom Yun, Kyu-Sung Choi, Heonhae Min, Yun Kee Jo, Sungho Jang.
      Metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, have risen due to lifestyle changes. Traditional treatments, including dietary modifications and pharmacological interventions, are limited by low compliance and adverse effects, highlighting the need for alternative therapeutic approaches that offer improved patient compliance and long-term effectiveness. Engineered live biotherapeutic products (eLBPs) have emerged as a promising strategy that combines bacterial chassis with synthetic genetic circuits for precise and targeted disease treatment. Unlike conventional therapeutics, eLBPs can colonize the intestinal tract and enable localized and condition-responsive therapeutic activity while offering improved safety profiles through defined mechanisms of action. This review highlights key strategies for eLBP development, particularly chassis selection and genetic circuit design. Applications in metabolic diseases, including inherited disorders such as phenylketonuria (PKU), demonstrate how engineered gene circuits can modulate specific metabolic pathways. However, several challenges remain, including genetic stability, interindividual variability, biological safety, and production scalability. In addition, further research on host-microbiota interactions is required to improve therapeutic predictability and efficacy, supporting the development of safe and effective personalized eLBP-based therapies for metabolic diseases.
    Keywords:  Metabolic disease; chassis; engineered live biotherapeutic products; genetic circuit; gut microbiome; synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/07388551.2026.2653692
  4. Trends Biotechnol. 2026 Jun 04. pii: S0167-7799(26)00227-1. [Epub ahead of print]
    Living buildings with living electronics: towards biologically intelligent biohybrids.
    Pablo Carbonell, Rachel Armstrong, Jorge Barriuso, Ioannis Ieropoulos.
      Harnessing the innate growth, self-repair, and adaptive capabilities of living systems within engineered devices could transform static buildings via domestic infrastructures into dynamic, self-sustaining platforms. Electroactive biofilms (EABs) provide a unique interface for this vision, naturally converting organic matter into electricity, treating wastewater, and processing complex information. Recent breakthroughs in synthetic biology and artificial intelligence now allow EABs to be programmed as biologically intelligent components-such as living transistors and logic processors-rather than simple biocatalysts. This opinion article outlines a roadmap for transitioning EAB-enabled hybrid biological-artificial systems from laboratory prototypes into integrated architectures for decentralised resource recovery. Ultimately, these bio-intelligent technologies enable a circular economy in which buildings function as metabolic organisms, redefining our relationship with the built environment.
    Keywords:  bioarchitecture; biocomputing; biomanufacturing; electroactive microorganisms; self-assembled biofilms; synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2026.05.015
  5. J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2026 May 25. 36 e2604021
    Bottom-Up Synthetic Biology for Artificial Cell Design: From Scaffold Materials to Functional Integration.
    So-Hee Park, Seong-Min Jo.
      Cells are extraordinary biochemical systems that have evolved over billions of years into highly sophisticated units of life. Bottom-up synthetic biology seeks to reconstruct cell-like systems from non-living molecular components, producing artificial cells that capture essential cellular features while bypassing the complexity and fragility of living organisms. This approach offers a unique perspective on the organizational principles underlying cellular life and provides a platform for diverse biotechnological applications. In this review, we survey recent advances in bottom-up artificial cell design, covering five principal scaffold materials including the newly prominent coacervate-based and hybrid hierarchical compartments, and four canonical functional categories: cascade metabolism, protein synthesis, division, and energy production. We further discuss the expanding application landscape spanning industrial biocatalysis, therapeutic protein delivery, biosensing, and origins of life research. Finally, we critically evaluate the key technical limitations currently facing the field, including module compatibility, operational stability, and regulatory challenges, and outline the directions that must be pursued to advance artificial cells toward practical realization.
    Keywords:  Artificial cells; Biocatalysis; Bottom-up synthetic biology; Origin-of-life
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.2604.04021
  6. Sci Adv. 2026 Jun 05. 12(23): eadz0017
    Light-based 3D printing of mechanoluminescent living gels loaded with dinoflagellates.
    Rani Boons, Mathias Steinacher, Henning Galinski, Vincent Niggel, Tanja Zimmermann, Gustav Nyström, Gilberto Siqueira, André R Studart.
      Dinoflagellates, a group of marine unicellular algae, are known for the fascinating glowing effects in coastal waters. While this natural mechanoluminescent phenomenon has been explored in pressure sensors and optical transducers, technologies to shape dinoflagellate-containing materials into more complex, engineering-relevant geometries remain limited. Here, we report a three-dimensional printing strategy to manufacture complex-shaped mechanoluminescent objects using dinoflagellates embedded in biocompatible hydrogels. The growth and mechanoluminescence of the entrapped dinoflagellates were investigated by optical microscopy, emission spectroscopy, and mechanical testing of cell-laden gels. Dinoflagellate-laden gels showed strong bioluminescence when compressed at sufficiently high strain and strain rates. By incorporating the dinoflagellates into a photo-curable hydrogel, we shaped such living material into complex geometries using a widely available light-based printing technique. The ability to print dinoflagellate-laden gels into intricate shapes broadens the design space available for the creation of mechanoluminescent living objects for applications in soft robotics, self-powered sensing, and optical transduction.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz0017
  7. Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2026 Jun 03.
    Alginate Microcapsules Incorporating Recombinant Lactococcus lactis-Montmorillonite Complexes Enhance Bacterial Survival and Restore Intestinal Homeostasis in ETEC-Challenged Mice.
    Ju Hyong Ri, Mingyang Hu, Sina Cha, Chenyu Xue, Na Dong.
      Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88 is a primary pathogen causing bacterial diarrhea in livestock, necessitating the development of efficient antibiotic alternatives. We developed a novel recombinant Lactococcus lactis (rLc) -montmorillonite@sodium alginate (rLc-Mt@SA) system using electrospray ionotropic gelation to overcome the low gastrointestinal survival of oral probiotics. To address the high porosity of conventional alginate, montmorillonite (Mt) was incorporated as a nanostructural skeleton to create a tortuous path for acid diffusion, thereby enhancing the barrier properties of the matrix. Microscopic analysis confirmed a stable composite structure, demonstrating a successful encapsulation process with a high encapsulation efficiency of 73.6%. In vitro digestive simulations showed that the rLc-Mt@SA system significantly preserved bacterial viability, yielding a 47.7% survival rate under gastric acid stress, which represents a 3.3-fold increase compared to the 14.5% survival of free bacteria. This enhanced survival ensured efficient intestinal release, leading to significant therapeutic effects in an ETEC K88-challenged mouse model, where rLc-Mt@SA pretreatment effectively attenuated intestinal injury. This protection was attributed to the upregulation of tight junction proteins and the activation of the Nrf2-Keap1 pathway, which played a crucial role in mitigating oxidative stress and restoring intestinal homeostasis. Furthermore, 16S rRNA sequencing and functional prediction revealed that the treatment remodeled the gut microbial landscape, enriching beneficial taxa such as Ligilactobacillus and Lachnospiraceae. This microbial modulation potentially contributed to colonization resistance and was associated with a shift in microbial metabolic networks toward enhanced glycan and energy metabolism. Overall, the Mt-reinforced alginate matrix serves as a high-performance, biocompatible delivery platform that maintains the bioactivity of recombinant strains and restores intestinal homeostasis, offering a promising strategy for managing enteric dysbiosis and a viable alternative to antibiotics in livestock production.
    Keywords:  Electrospray microencapsulation; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC); Intestinal barrier; Montmorillonite-alginate complex; Recombinant Lactococcus lactis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-026-11058-y
  8. Biofabrication. 2026 Jun 04.
    Topology Optimization of 3D-Printed Mycelium Hydrogels.
    Winston F Lindqwister, Mrinal Chaudhury, Sarah N Schyck, Iuri Rocha, Kunal Masania, Martin Lesueur.
      As we move towards more sustainable and resilient materials, new opportunities for harnessing the next generation of biological materials will arise. Materials composed of living organisms have great potential in fulfilling this role as a self-healing, lightweight and sustainable structural material. Recent advances in 3Dprinting using fungi-inoculated hydrogels opens the potential of additive manufacturing with fungi into optimized shapes. However, while this technique of 3D-printing fungi has great potential in a wide range of engineering applications, computational models do not yet exist to precisely engineer the strength of structures made from this material. Here we create a computational modeling scheme for 3D-printed mycelium structures, linking the growth of fungi to stiffness. We first model the growth of fungi through a diffusion model. We then convert the resultant density values into local stiffness, creating a computational representation of the varying elemental stiffness as a function of local mycelial density. We implement two Bayesian optimization-based topology optimization schemes to maximize the strength of cuboid 3D-printed structures while minimizing the input material cost. One maximizes the material specific stiffness while the other applies a constrained scheme for a identifying a minimized mass for a target design stiffness. Both show a distinct tradeoff in print mass to stiffness, with results validated experimentally. These new insights provide important next steps in the effective harnessing of this class of emergent material, as well as its larger adoption for engineering applications.
    Keywords:  additive manufacturing; engineered living materials; fungi materials; hydrogel; mycelium; topology optimization
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5090/ae7835
  9. Cancer Biol Ther. 2026 Dec 31. 27(1): 2683171
    Leveraging the bacteria for enhanced cancer immunotherapy: from a perspective of synthetic biology.
    Xing Liu, Hejin Zhang, Renchun Du, Zixu Liu, Yunyun Ren, Xiao Yang.
      In recent years, synthetic biology has been widely applied to engineer and program cellular behaviors. Using this approach, bacteria can be designed to express immunotherapeutic agents, improve tumor targeting, and deliver therapeutic payloads directly to tumor sites. To further improve efficacy, strategies such as hypoxia-responsive promoters, bacterial swarming, and extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been investigated, along with the synergistic effects of combining bacterial therapy with other treatments (e.g., photodynamic therapy, chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors). This review summarizes recent advances in synthetic biology for bacteria-based cancer immunotherapies, focusing on how bacterial agents activate the immune system and the engineering strategies used to achieve tumor targeting.
    Keywords:  Synthetic biology; bacteria-based immunotherapy; cancer treatment; immune system activation; personalized medicine; tumor microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/15384047.2026.2683171
  10. bioRxiv. 2026 May 22. pii: 2026.05.19.726343. [Epub ahead of print]
    Next-generation genetically encoded biosensors for spatiotemporal intracellular pH monitoring, mapping, and profiling.
    Sam Taylor, Bruno Colon, Kyutae D Lee, Jennifer Arcuri, Shraddha Chandthakuri, Daniel G Isom.
      Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) systems are widely used for live-cell spectroscopy and biosensor engineering, yet the intrinsic pH sensitivity of commonly used BRET components has not been systematically examined. Here, we show that major BRET luciferase donors, fluorescent acceptors, and donor-acceptor assay pairs exhibit pronounced pH-dependent spectroscopic behavior across physiologically relevant conditions, identifying environmental pH responsiveness as a fundamental property of widely used BRET systems and a potential source of previously underappreciated assay artifacts. Leveraging these principles, we engineered ORION (ratiOmetRIc prOton seNsor), a genetically encoded ratiometric BRET pH sensor based on the NanoLuc-mVenus fusion. ORION exhibited strong brightness, an approximately 9-fold dynamic range, and robust responsiveness across a substantially broader pH range than that of existing genetically encoded sensors. Compared to pHluorin2, ORION maintained substantially improved quantitative performance at acidic pH values below 6.0. To demonstrate its utility in a biological application, we applied ORION across diverse cancer cell models and identified heterogeneous acid imprinting states, suggesting that tumor cells can retain persistent physiological memory of adaptation to acidic microenvironments even after prolonged ex vivo culture. Together, these findings establish pH responsiveness as a fundamental property of BRET systems and position ORION as a best-in-class platform for interrogating and quantifying pH regulation of biology in living systems.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.19.726343
  11. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2026 Jun 03. e0017825
    Toward synthetic biology in mushroom-forming Agaricomycete fungi: from tools to applications.
    Peter M Allen, Deniz Sinar, Shahar Schwartz, Vayu Hill-Maini.
      SUMMARYMushroom-forming Agaricomycete fungi underpin global nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration, and support large and growing markets across food, medicinal supplements, and biomaterials. Yet most commercial and research uses still rely on wild-type strains, highlighting the opportunity for genetic engineering to expand possibilities for both fundamental research and biotechnological applications. In this review, we highlight progress toward synthetic biology in Agaricomycetes, and outline the main barriers that limit predictable genetic engineering. We emphasize engineering constraints unique to mushroom biology, including complex sexual cycles, heterokaryosis, and strain instability during transformation and outgrowth. We then transition to gene expression bottlenecks: the scarcity of characterized promoters and terminators, the challenges for gene integration posed by the condensed nature of Agaricomycete genomes, and the effects of introns and specific sequence motifs. Finally, drawing inspiration from progress in related fungi and other eukaryotes, we highlight the priorities for the field: systematic cross-species evaluation of genetic parts, development of more sophisticated gene-editing strategies, higher-throughput screening methods, and the establishment of a unifying model system. These advances would enable new possibilities in the study and use of Agaricomycetes, establishing these elusive organisms as programmable platforms for sustainable biomanufacturing, designer biomaterials, climate solutions, and mechanistic studies of fungal biology.
    Keywords:  genetic engineering; mushrooms; synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.00178-25
  12. J Nanobiotechnology. 2026 Jun 04.
    Bioinspired and living multiscale composites for regenerative medicine in the treatment of surgical site infections.
    Fengshou Chen, Limei Wang, Hao Liu, Yutao Wang, Bing Tang, Naren Bao.
      Surgical site infections are a major postoperative complication because microbial contamination may destabilize healing and undermine the effectiveness of regenerative biomaterials. Conventional approaches tend to focus on infection control and tissue regeneration in isolation, thereby restricting their efficacy in complicated surgical procedures. Recent advancements in bioinspired and living multiscale composite materials offer new methods of antimicrobial functionality and regenerative support through hierarchical material design and bioinspired strategies. This review presents an extensive discussion on bioinspired and living multiscale composites in regenerative medicine to address surgical site infections. This review discusses the principles of biology, design of multiscale architectures, and provides an overview of how inert implants have evolved into bioactive, antimicrobial, and adaptive multiscale material systems. Most important material classes and fabrication strategies are addressed, with literature on the modes of incorporating structural hierarchy, antimicrobial strategies, and biological integration through the composite platform. The existing uses in preventing infections, regeneration of contaminated defects, delivering infection-responsive drugs, and biosensing have been critically evaluated. Translational, industrial, and regulatory issues, as well as the problems of scale-up, manufacturing obstacles, biosafety, standardization, and clinical integration specifically for living and hybrid systems, are also discussed here. This review summarizes the prospects and shortcomings of multiscale composite strategies through the synthesis of materials science, biology, and translational research to identify key directions for creating effective, safe, and clinically viable anti-infective regenerative materials.
    Keywords:  Antimicrobial biomaterials; Bioinspired materials; Living materials; Multiscale composites; Regenerative medicine; Surgical site infection
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-026-04435-w
  13. World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2026 Jun 06. pii: 331. [Epub ahead of print]42(7):
    Development of Bacillus subtilis cell factories for nutraceuticals production.
    Kaixin Shi, Wentao Shi, Shunde Zeng, Xumin Yin, Lunjiang Gao, Dong Zhang, Yahong Shi, Anying Ji, Zhizhong Zuo.
      Nutraceuticals are products that contribute to health maintenance or physiological regulation. With the continuous growth in market demand, increasing attention has been paid to their production methods. Chemical synthesis and extraction from plants or animals generally suffer from complex processes, high costs, low yields, raw material shortages, and environmental pollution. In contrast, microbial synthesis is emerging as a promising alternative route for nutraceutical production. Among various microbial hosts, Bacillus subtilis has become an often-considered ideal chassis cell for the biosynthesis of nutraceuticals due to its GRAS status, well-characterized genetic background, and mature genetic manipulation platforms. This review systematically summarizes the synthetic biology tools and advanced metabolic engineering strategies employed in the construction of B. subtilis cell factories, critically compares their limitations, and highlights their applications in the biosynthesis of nutraceuticals. Furthermore, current challenges and future research directions are discussed. In summary, B. subtilis is expected to play an increasingly critical role in the efficient and sustainable biosynthesis of nutraceuticals.
    Keywords:   Bacillus subtilis ; Metabolic engineering; Microbial cell factories; Nutraceuticals; Synthetic biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-026-05068-9
  14. Nat Cancer. 2026 Jun 04.
    Bacterial engineering for cancer therapy.
    Noah Chen, Zaofeng Yang, Nicholas Arpaia.
      One of the most critical challenges in cancer therapy is the effective and specific targeting of tumors. The specific accumulation of bacteria within tumor tissue has been exploited for the delivery of therapeutic payloads, including cytotoxic agents and cancer immunotherapeutics, to the tumor site; however, such bacteria-based cancer therapies face challenges related to insufficient colonization and limited efficacy in the clinic. In this Perspective, we discuss mechanisms of bacterial tumor colonization and methods to enhance them, the antitumor mechanisms of bacteria, and considerations for payload selection and delivery.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-026-01171-w
  15. RSC Adv. 2026 May 28. 16(32): 29529-29541
    Harnessing wetting transitions to program dual-mode antibacterial textiles.
    Sujin Jeong, Kyeongeun Lee, Sebin Lee, Jooyoun Kim.
      Anti-biofouling and antimicrobial treatments often face intrinsic trade-offs between short-term surface repellence and long-term bactericidal activity. Herein, a time-sequenced dual-defense textile platform is presented based on Cu/Zn bimetallic imidazolate frameworks grown on cotton fabrics via a composition-controlled coordinating strategy and vacuum-assisted pore activation. In particular, this work introduces a materials-design concept in which interfacial wetting dynamics are deliberately exploited to program sequential functionality. The pore-activated metal-organic framework surface initially stabilizes trapped air pockets, imparting superhydrophobicity and suppressing bacterial adhesion. Upon prolonged exposure to bacterial suspension, pore wetting occurs, triggering interactions between bacteria and reactive oxygen species of ˙O2 - and ˙OH, generated through Cu+/Cu2+ redox cycling. This transition induces intracellular oxidative stress in Escherichia coli, as confirmed by assays. Systematic tuning of the Cu/Zn ratio grants control over the balance between anti-adhesive persistence and bactericidal potency, where Cu-rich frameworks achieve a bactericidal efficiency of 99.2% after 120 min, suitable for high-risk clinical environments, while Zn-rich compositions extend the anti-adhesive state for daily-wear applications. This study advances a dynamic, wetting-regulated materials principle that allows adaptive antibacterial performance, offering a broadly applicable strategy for hygiene textiles, with immediate bacterial repulsion and sustained oxidative inactivation.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ra01949h
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