Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40044914›Full record

ReviewNature protocols2025

Construction of complex bacteriogenic protocells from living material assembly.

Can Xu, Mei Li, Nicolas Martin, Stephen Mann

Abstract readReview
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In one paragraph

Review in Nature protocols, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Can XuSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, P. R. China. xucan@sjtu.edu.cn.
Mei LiSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, P. R. China.
Nicolas MartinUniv. Bordeaux, CNRS, Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Pessac, France.ORCID 0000-0003-1367-4330
Stephen MannSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, P. R. China. s.mann@bristol.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-3012-8964

Funding

ERC
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Protocell research offers diverse opportunities to understand cellular processes and the foundations of life and holds attractive potential applications across various fields. However, it is still a formidable task to construct a true-to-life synthetic cell with high organizational and functional complexity. Here we present a protocol for constructing bacteriogenic protocells by employing prokaryotes as on-site repositories of compositional, functional and structural building blocks to address this challenge. This approach is based on the capture and processing of two spatially segregated bacterial colonies within individual coacervate microdroplets to produce membrane-bounded, molecularly crowded, compositionally, structurally and functionally complex synthetic cells. The bacteriogenic protocells inherit sufficient biological components from their bacterial building units to exhibit highly integrated life-like properties, including biocatalysis, glycolysis and gene expression. The protocells can be endogenously remodeled to acquire diverse proto-organelles including a spatially partitioned nucleus-like DNA/histone-based condensate to store genetic material, membrane-bounded water vacuoles to adjust cellular osmotic pressure, a three-dimensional network of F-actin proto-cytoskeleton to support structural stability and proto-mitochondria to generate endogenous ATP as source of energy. The protocells ultimately develop a nonspherical morphology due to the continuous biogeneration of metabolic products by implanted living bacteria cells. This protocol provides a novel living material assembly strategy for the construction of functional protoliving microdevices and offers opportunities for potential applications in engineered synthetic biology and biomedicine. The protocol takes ~27 d to complete and requires expertise in microbiology, phase separation, biochemistry and molecular biology related techniques.

Indexed as

Artificial CellsSynthetic Biology

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.