Dr. Aina Rebasa-Vallverdu, Dr. Manuel Antuch, Beatrice Rosetti, Dr. Nicoletta Braidotti, Prof. Pierangelo Gobbo
Bio-inspired approaches in materials science and systems chemistry are yielding a variety of stimuli-responsive and dynamic materials that are gradually changing our everyday life. However, the ability to chemically program these materials to exhibit macroscopic higher-order behaviours such as self-assembly, contractility, swarming, taxis, chemical communication, or predator-prey dynamics remains an ongoing challenge. While still in its infancy, the successful fabrication of bio-inspired materials displaying higher-order behaviours not only will help bridging the gap between living and non-living matter, but it will also contribute to the development of advanced materials for potential applications ranging from tissue engineering and biotechnology, to soft robotics and regenerative medicine. Our Mini-Review will systematically discuss the higher-order behaviours developed thus far in bio-inspired systems, namely (i) polymer networks (ii) microbots, (iii) protocells, and (iv) prototissues. For each system it will provide key examples and highlight how the emergent behaviour could be chemically programmed.
材料科学和系统化学中的生物启发方法正在产生各种刺激响应型动态材料,它们正在逐渐改变我们的日常生活。然而,如何对这些材料进行化学编程,使其表现出宏观的高阶行为,如自组装、收缩性、蜂群、滑行、化学通讯或捕食者-猎物动力学,仍然是一个持续的挑战。虽然生物启发材料的制造仍处于起步阶段,但成功制造出具有高阶行为的生物启发材料不仅有助于缩小生命物质与非生命物质之间的差距,还有助于开发先进材料,使其具有从组织工程和生物技术到软机器人和再生医学等各种潜在应用。我们的微型综述将系统地讨论迄今为止在生物启发系统中开发的高阶行为,即 (i) 聚合物网络 (ii) 微型机器人 (iii) 原型细胞 (iv) 原型组织。它将为每种系统提供关键实例,并重点介绍如何通过化学方法对出现的行为进行编程。
{"title":"Higher-Order Behaviours in Bio-Inspired Materials","authors":"Dr. Aina Rebasa-Vallverdu, Dr. Manuel Antuch, Beatrice Rosetti, Dr. Nicoletta Braidotti, Prof. Pierangelo Gobbo","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400014","DOIUrl":"10.1002/syst.202400014","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Bio-inspired approaches in materials science and systems chemistry are yielding a variety of stimuli-responsive and dynamic materials that are gradually changing our everyday life. However, the ability to chemically program these materials to exhibit macroscopic higher-order behaviours such as self-assembly, contractility, swarming, taxis, chemical communication, or predator-prey dynamics remains an ongoing challenge. While still in its infancy, the successful fabrication of bio-inspired materials displaying higher-order behaviours not only will help bridging the gap between living and non-living matter, but it will also contribute to the development of advanced materials for potential applications ranging from tissue engineering and biotechnology, to soft robotics and regenerative medicine. Our Mini-Review will systematically discuss the higher-order behaviours developed thus far in bio-inspired systems, namely (i) polymer networks (ii) microbots, (iii) protocells, and (iv) prototissues. For each system it will provide key examples and highlight how the emergent behaviour could be chemically programmed.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400014","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140697489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The knowledge regarding the origins of life from inanimate materials is still elusive. It was proposed that biological building blocks evolved from the inorganic substances present in the early earth conditions. However, the process by which chemistry can be converted into biology has not yet been achieved in the laboratory. The artificial system in the out-of-equilibrium state must maintain a few critical features of life, like compartmentalization, metabolism, and replication, to be considered alive. In this direction, working with cysteine (Cys)-based molecules is strategic to understand the life evolution process. The presence of the sulphydryl (−SH) group in the Cys-residue can build a dynamic equilibrium state through disulfide redox chemistry under the proper guidance of oxidizing and reducing agents. In this review article, our primary focus is to discuss the Cys-containing short-peptide-based self-assembly and disassembly processes. The formation of disulfide bonds sometimes helps in the self-assembly process and gelation, but the reverse is also true in some cases. In the later part of this article, we cover the fact that these sulphydryl-based systems have shown their adaptability to mimic different life-essential criteria to participate in Darwinian evolution.
{"title":"Cysteine-Based Dynamic Self-Assembly and Their Importance in the Origins of Life","authors":"Soumen Kuila, Jayanta Nanda","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400022","DOIUrl":"10.1002/syst.202400022","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The knowledge regarding the origins of life from inanimate materials is still elusive. It was proposed that biological building blocks evolved from the inorganic substances present in the early earth conditions. However, the process by which chemistry can be converted into biology has not yet been achieved in the laboratory. The artificial system in the out-of-equilibrium state must maintain a few critical features of life, like compartmentalization, metabolism, and replication, to be considered alive. In this direction, working with cysteine (Cys)-based molecules is strategic to understand the life evolution process. The presence of the sulphydryl (−SH) group in the Cys-residue can build a dynamic equilibrium state through disulfide redox chemistry under the proper guidance of oxidizing and reducing agents. In this review article, our primary focus is to discuss the Cys-containing short-peptide-based self-assembly and disassembly processes. The formation of disulfide bonds sometimes helps in the self-assembly process and gelation, but the reverse is also true in some cases. In the later part of this article, we cover the fact that these sulphydryl-based systems have shown their adaptability to mimic different life-essential criteria to participate in Darwinian evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140710926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Silke Asche, Robert W. Pow, Hessam M. Mehr, Geoffrey J. T. Cooper, Abhishek Sharma, Prof. Leroy Cronin
It has long been thought that abiogenesis requires a process of selection and evolution at the molecular level, but this process is hard to explore experimentally. One solution could be the use of automation in experiments which could allow for traceability and the ability to explore a larger reaction space. We report a fully programmable and automated platform to explore the reactions of amino acids in the presence of mineral environments. The robotic system is based upon the Chemputer system which has well defined modules, software, and a chemical programming language to orchestrate the chemical processes, including analysis. The reaction mixtures were analysed with tandem mass spectrometry and a peptide sequencing algorithm. Each experiment was screened for 1,398,100 possible unique sequences, and more than 550 specifically defined sequences were confirmed experimentally. This work aimed to develop a new understanding of selection in repeated cycles of polymerisation reactions to explore the emergence of well-defined amino acid sequences. We found that the outcome of oligomerisation was significantly influenced by the presence of different minerals, and that a serpentine environment selects glycine and phenylalanine rich fragments that enable the formation of longer oligomers with well-defined sequences as a function of cycle number.
{"title":"Evidence of Selection in Mineral Mediated Polymerization Reactions Executed in a Robotic Chemputer System","authors":"Silke Asche, Robert W. Pow, Hessam M. Mehr, Geoffrey J. T. Cooper, Abhishek Sharma, Prof. Leroy Cronin","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400006","url":null,"abstract":"<p>It has long been thought that abiogenesis requires a process of selection and evolution at the molecular level, but this process is hard to explore experimentally. One solution could be the use of automation in experiments which could allow for traceability and the ability to explore a larger reaction space. We report a fully programmable and automated platform to explore the reactions of amino acids in the presence of mineral environments. The robotic system is based upon the Chemputer system which has well defined modules, software, and a chemical programming language to orchestrate the chemical processes, including analysis. The reaction mixtures were analysed with tandem mass spectrometry and a peptide sequencing algorithm. Each experiment was screened for 1,398,100 possible unique sequences, and more than 550 specifically defined sequences were confirmed experimentally. This work aimed to develop a new understanding of selection in repeated cycles of polymerisation reactions to explore the emergence of well-defined amino acid sequences. We found that the outcome of oligomerisation was significantly influenced by the presence of different minerals, and that a serpentine environment selects glycine and phenylalanine rich fragments that enable the formation of longer oligomers with well-defined sequences as a function of cycle number.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140949160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Jarne de Jong, Foteini Trigka, Dr. Michael M. Lerch
Coordination of functions in multi-body or multi-component systems requires communication among its parts and is a prerequisite for achieving complex tasks. While electromagnetic (network) communication provides a key ingredient for modern robotics, its molecular equivalent is largely missing for soft robots. With advancements in programmed cargo release, DNA strand-displacement reactions, enzymatic cascades, and genetic circuits, budding solutions to such chemical network communication have emerged with the potential to drive function in soft machines. In order for such chemical communication to be useful, however, new control concepts, (orthogonal) communication protocols, and molecular solutions should be found. Herein, we provide a critical perspective on the current state-of-the-art chemical communication and identify key challenges towards autonomous soft materials, including signal processing, dealing with noise, switching signaling modalities, and limitations in time and length scales that determine material design. Building on an emerging body of examples, we illustrate gaps, synergies, and new concepts that may provide possible solutions to achieve standardized and reliable molecular information exchange for regulating (soft) robotic function.
{"title":"Towards Autonomous Materials–Challenges in Chemical Communication","authors":"P. Jarne de Jong, Foteini Trigka, Dr. Michael M. Lerch","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400005","DOIUrl":"10.1002/syst.202400005","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Coordination of functions in multi-body or multi-component systems requires communication among its parts and is a prerequisite for achieving complex tasks. While electromagnetic (network) communication provides a key ingredient for modern robotics, its molecular equivalent is largely missing for soft robots. With advancements in programmed cargo release, DNA strand-displacement reactions, enzymatic cascades, and genetic circuits, budding solutions to such chemical network communication have emerged with the potential to drive function in soft machines. In order for such chemical communication to be useful, however, new control concepts, (orthogonal) communication protocols, and molecular solutions should be found. Herein, we provide a critical perspective on the current state-of-the-art chemical communication and identify key challenges towards autonomous soft materials, including signal processing, dealing with noise, switching signaling modalities, and limitations in time and length scales that determine material design. Building on an emerging body of examples, we illustrate gaps, synergies, and new concepts that may provide possible solutions to achieve standardized and reliable molecular information exchange for regulating (soft) robotic function.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140259948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Front Cover illustrates the formation of a rotaxane by crown ether active template synthesis (CEATS). Depicted is the aminolysis of an activated ester, which produces a rotaxane containing an amide thread. Cover design by Anna Tanczos, Sci-Comm Studios. More information can be found in the Concept by Stephen D. P. Fielden.