ArticleScience advances2020
Artificial cells drive neural differentiation.
Article in Science advances, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- Membrane-Associated Biomolecules for Synthetic Cell Signalling.Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology · 2026Review
- Bottom-Up Coacervate-Based Artificial Cells: Integrating Cellular Hallmarks into Complex Life-Like Systems.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Review
- A cationic single-chain bolalipid forms stable vesicles with distinct interfacial behavior.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Synthetic Cell-Based Tissues for Bottom-Up Assembly of Artificial Lymphatic Organs.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Stimuli-Responsive Cell-Mimetic Vesicles for Advanced Pharmaceutical Systems.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- A microgel-stabilized, light-controlled artificial energy supply module for efficient biosynthesis.Regenerative biomaterials · 2026Article
- Bioactive Artificial Cells as Autonomous Metabolic Actuators Enable Bidirectional Communication with Tumor Cells.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025Article
- ATP-Powered Signaling Between Artificial and Living Cells.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025Article
- Light-controlled synthetic communication networks via paired connexon nanopores.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Magnetic activation of spherical nucleic acids enables the remote control of synthetic cells.Nature chemistry · 2025Article
- Strategies and applications of synthetic cell communication.Nature chemical biology · 2025Review
- Dendritic Membranized Coacervate Microdroplets: A Robust Platform for Synthetic-Living Cell Consortia.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025Article
- AKT signaling upregulates BDNF expression in induced neural stem cells that interact with microglia.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Integrating incompatible tandem photobiocatalysis in artificial cells enables metabolic modulation of natural cells.Science advances · 2025Article
- High-Resolution Patterned Delivery of Chemical Signals From 3D-Printed Picoliter Droplet Networks.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Article
- Abiotic lipid metabolism enables membrane plasticity in artificial cells.Nature chemistry · 2025Article
- Spatiotemporal Control Over Protein Release from Artificial Cells via a Light-Activatable Protease.Advanced biology · 2025Article
- Light-Triggered Protease-Mediated Release of Actin-Bound Cargo from Synthetic Cells.Advanced biology · 2025Article
- Responsive DNA artificial cells for contact and behavior regulation of mammalian cells.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Synthetic transmembrane DNA receptors enable engineered sensing and actuation.Nature communications · 2025Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We report the construction of artificial cells that chemically communicate with mammalian cells under physiological conditions. The artificial cells respond to the presence of a small molecule in the environment by synthesizing and releasing a potent protein signal, brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Genetically controlled artificial cells communicate with engineered human embryonic kidney cells and murine neural stem cells. The data suggest that artificial cells are a versatile chassis for the in situ synthesis and on-demand release of chemical signals that elicit desired phenotypic changes of eukaryotic cells, including neuronal differentiation. In the future, artificial cells could be engineered to go beyond the capabilities of typical smart drug delivery vehicles by synthesizing and delivering specific therapeutic molecules tailored to distinct physiological conditions.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.