Towards artificial cells for biomedical applications

Abstract

A novel toolbox for future applications in precision nanomedicine and synthetic biology is the development of artificial cell organelles and the creation of cell-like structures operating similar to biological systems with a minimalistic set of building blocks. To achieve this ambitious goal, two major design strategies are followed in the field of synthetic biology. The top-down approach tries to generate a radically trimmed but still intact artificial cell by eliminating all non-essential components from the much more complex native systems. In contrast, bottom-up synthetic biology aims at constructing a functioning minimal cell by combining all essential building blocks step-by-step starting from scratch. In the present contribution, the author ́s ongoing activities to develop artificial reaction centres for novel types of photoautotrophic processes and to provide fully biocompatible synthetic enzyme counterparts and artificial organelles as abiotic building blocks for bottom-up synthetic biology are summarized. This unique approach has the potential to create unprecedented minimal artificial cell-like systems that can be powered and readily controlled by light as an external stimulus, which will provide new perspectives for molecular photomedicine and photopharmacology. *Correspondence to: Günther Knör, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Center for Nanobionics and Photochemical Sciences (CNPS), Altenberger Strasse 69, 4040 Linz, Austria, Tel: +43(0)732-2468-5100; E-mail: guenther.knoer@jku.at