Engineering yeast multicellular behaviors via synthetic adhesion and contact signaling

Abstract

Multicellular coordination enhances biological complexity, yet the widely used yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae possesses limited multicellular capabilities. Here, we expand the possibilities for engineering multicellular behaviors in yeast by developing modular toolkits for two key mechanisms in multicellularity, contact-dependent signaling and specific cell-cell adhesion. MARS (mating-peptide anchored response system) enables contact-dependent signaling via surface-displayed peptides and G protein-coupled receptors, mimicking juxtacrine communication, while Saccharomyces SATURN (adhesion toolkit for multicellular patterning) uses adhesion-protein pairs for the creation of programmable cell aggregation patterns. Combining these allows the construction of multicellular logic circuits, equivalent to developmental programs that lead to cell differentiation based on local population. We further created JUPITER (juxtacrine sensor for protein-protein interaction), a genetic sensor based on MARS and SATURN, for assaying protein-protein interactions and selecting high-affinity nanobody binders. Collectively, these toolkits present versatile building blocks for constructing complex, user-defined multicellular yeast systems and expand the scope of its biotechnological applications.