bims-livmat 2026-10-04 papers

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2026 Sep 28.

Engineered Probiotics with Pb-Binding Enhanced Curli Nanofibers for Oral Lead Elimination.

Jinyun Hong, Bochuan Yuan, Hanxiao Feng, Yuanyuan Song, Zhangyu Li, Ke Wang, Minting Wang, Hui Peng, Yiguang Jin.

Lead poisoning remains a persistent global health challenge. Current small-molecule chelation therapies for lead poisoning cause systemic side effects due to non-specific metal depletion. Here, we propose an "affinity-selectivity-safety" strategy using a living biointerface in which the probiotic is programmed to overexpress customized curli nanofibers. The high-affinity Pb-binding protein PbrR was anchored onto the cell surface of Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) via fusion to the curli nanofiber subunit CsgA and presented within the extracellular self-assembled curli network. After induction, EcNC-P overexpresses the C-P fusion protein, which self-assembles into a dense and stable network of PbrR-functionalized curli nanofibers on the bacterial surface, without impairing bacterial viability, intestinal transit properties, or intrinsic probiotic functions. The engineered probiotics exhibited an exceptional Pb2+ binding capacity of up to 70 mg·g-1 biomass and preferential Pb selectivity over essential metals under competitive conditions. The curli-displayed PbrR provides an array of multidentate Pb2+-chelating sites, endowing the living material with an ultrahigh lead adsorption capacity. Orally ingested EcNC-P was completely excreted within 12 h, ensuring biosafety. In an acute oral Pb exposure mouse model, EcNC-P-based living materials achieved better efficacy than orally administered DTPA under the same dosing condition, reducing blood Pb levels by ∼30% and increasing fecal Pb excretion by ∼1.2-fold. Therapeutic supplementation of the probiotics promoted fecal lead excretion and markedly decreased tissue lead burdens and was associated with alleviated intestinal inflammation and altered gut microbiota composition. No systemic toxicity or adverse effects were observed with single high-dose use. This surface-anchored customized curli nanofiber probiotic integrates high-affinity lead chelation with the bioactivities of a living biointerface, offering a safe, oral, and programmable platform for the holistic management of lead poisoning.

Keywords: biointerfaces; customized curli nanofibers; engineered probiotic; heavy metal detoxification; lead poisoning; lead-binding protein

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6c13433

Bioresour Technol. 2026 Sep 27. pii: S0960-8524(26)02043-2. [Epub ahead of print]464(Pt B): 135961

Self-sustaining microalgae-laden hydrogel enables high-efficiency biomass production.

Hai Liu, Ning Ding, Minwen Jiang, Weiwei Tan, Xiaoyi Li, Sihan Zheng, Ying Song, Yuheng Xu, Zhenhua Su, Xiaojie Li, Zhixing Lin, Jiajing Zhou.

Engineered living materials integrated with photosynthetic microalgae represent an attractive exploration for sustainable biomanufacturing, as these systems couple light-driven biomass production and CO2 assimilation. However, the translation of these systems toward next-stage applications remains largely constrained by the lack of scalable and resource-efficient implementation strategies. Here, we report a biogenic microalgae-laden hydrogel (BMH) platform fabricated via extrusion-based 3D bioprinting for efficient biomass production with improved spatial utilization. Compared to conventional liquid cultivation, the self-sustaining hydrogel system formulated from natural polysaccharides and nutrient medium enables homogeneous cell distribution at centimeter scale under continuous illumination, and enhances the biomass accumulation of Chlorella sp., a fast-growing edible microalga, by 4.35-fold. Transcriptomic analyses reveal coordinated upregulation of genes associated with photosynthesis pathways, elucidating the molecular mechanism for improved light harvesting and carbon assimilation. This study establishes an efficient platform for high-density microalgal cultivation with scalability potential, advancing the design of photosynthetic living materials and opening new opportunities for sustainable biomanufacturing in food and energy fields.

Keywords: 3D printing; Engineered living material; High-efficiency cultivation; Hydrogel; Microalgae

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2026.135961

Trends Biotechnol. 2026 Oct 02. pii: S0167-7799(26)00380-X. [Epub ahead of print]

Engineering phage therapeutics with intrinsic biocontainment.

Maisie R Czernuszka, Stefan A Hoffmann, Michael A Brockhurst, Yizhi Cai.

Engineered bacteriophages (phages) are emerging as a promising next generation of antibacterial phage therapeutics, facilitated by advances in synthetic biology, genome engineering, and computational design. Engineered phage therapeutics offer standardised genome designs, expanded functionality, and improved manufacturability, which could potentially help to overcome regulatory barriers. However, genetically engineered phages raise additional biosafety and environmental concerns, making the development of effective biocontainment strategies important for clinical use. Here, we review current approaches for phage genome engineering, alongside the evolving regulatory frameworks for engineered phages. We evaluate emerging biocontainment strategies for therapeutic phages and propose a framework for assessing trade-offs between biocontainment stringency, evolutionary robustness against escape mutants, therapeutic efficacy, and translational feasibility.

Keywords: biocontainment; phage engineering; phage genome engineering; phage therapy; synthetic biology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2026.09.010

J Microsc. 2026 Sep 29.

Engineered probiotic biointerfaces: Construction principles, microscopic characterisation and biomedical functions.

Jiaming Tang, Mengqi Bai, Judith Zubia-Aranburu, Feiyi Zhang, Qian Zhang, Qi Tan, Zengkai Wang, Mingdong Dong, Lei Liu.

Engineered probiotic biointerfaces are the dynamic boundaries through which modified bacteria interact with their biological surroundings. They can improve bacterial survival, mucosal retention and therapeutic delivery, but the structural basis of these effects is often unclear. This review groups biointerfaces by their dominant role: barrier protection, recognition, responsiveness, interaction and renewal by living cells. We compare microscopy methods for measuring coating continuity, ligand organisation, surface mechanics and changes during growth or biological transport. We also explain how artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted image analysis can convert bacterial images into reproducible single-cell measurements, using published workflows as practical examples. These methods can help connect interfacial changes with mucosal protection, immune regulation, targeted delivery and antibiofilm activity. Coating continuity, ligand organisation and mechanics are parameters associated with performance; their causal contributions remain to be established. We therefore propose combining measurements over time with matched functional assays and controlled changes to individual interface parameters. This approach can test structure-property-function relationships and guide the design of reproducible living therapeutics.

Keywords: biointerface; biomedical applications; multiscale microscopy; probiotics; surface modification

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.70182

Crit Rev Microbiol. 2026 Oct 01. 1-13

Live probiotic encapsulation: process engineering, wall materials, and the translation gap to human gastrointestinal survival.

Urwashi Maurya Arvind, Hina Maniya, Vijay Kumar.

Probiotic viability from manufacture to colonic delivery is compromised by thermal processing, oxidative storage conditions, and sequential gastrointestinal (GIT) stresses, with cumulative losses exceeding 8 log10 CFU in unprotected preparations. Encapsulation addresses this challenge by shielding cells within protective matrices. This review synthesizes current evidence across the full encapsulation value chain. We examine GIT stress physiology from ingestion to colonic fermentation, then analyze encapsulation architectures spanning macro-beads to single-cell metal-phenolic network (MPN) nano-coatings. Wall material performance covering sodium alginate, chitosan, whey proteins, pectin, zein, soy protein isolate, and MPNs is evaluated against six selection criteria. Four industrial processes (ionotropic gelation, spray drying, spray chilling, and freeze drying) are appraised for engineering efficiency. A critical assessment of in vitro digestion models reveals that static INFOGEST 2.0 protocols overestimate in vivo protection by 1-3 log10 CFU relative to human fecal recovery studies, owing to the absence of peristaltic mechanics, mucus interactions, and microbiome competition. Emerging frontiers including synbiotic co-encapsulation, AI-driven formulation optimization, and engineered live biotherapeutic products are discussed. A four-stage validation pipeline static in vitro screening, dynamic model validation, ex vivo/animal confirmation, and stratified human trial is proposed as a translational framework to close the gap between laboratory performance and clinical outcome. No single wall material, process, or validation stage performs optimally across all contexts; the evidence instead supports strain, matrix, and application-specific formulation, verified through staged evidence generation, as the most defensible route from laboratory protection to clinically meaningful gastrointestinal delivery.

Keywords: INFOGEST digestion model; Probiotic encapsulation; gastrointestinal survival; translation gaps; wall materials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1040841X.2026.2729426