Co-assembling living material as an in vitro lung epithelial infection model

Wu, Yuanhao; Romero, Manuel; Robertson, Shaun N.; Fenn, Samuel; Fisher, Leanne; Willingham, Iona; Martinez Pomares, Luisa; Ligorio, Cosimo; Hill, Jordan; Bu, Wenhuan; Zhou, Zuoxin; Wildman, Ricky D.; Ghaemmaghami, Amir M.; Sun, Hongchen; Sun, Jiaming; Cámara, Miguel; Mata, Alvaro

Abstract

Biofilms are robust living 3D materials that play key roles in nature but also cause major problems, such as tolerance to antibiotic treatment. Recreation of these living structures in vitro is critical to understand their biology and develop solutions to the problems they cause. However, growing 3D biofilms in vitro is difficult primarily because of the limitations in developing matrices that mimic the inherent structural and compositional complexity of their extracellular milieu. Here, we report a living material based on the co-assembly of artificial sputum medium with bioactive peptide amphiphiles. We demonstrate its capacity to support the growth of 3D polymicrobial biofilms and build an interkingdom infected lung epithelial model to study the impact of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Our study offers a living material capable of growing functional 3D biofilms that simulate in vitro the nutritional and mechanical properties of these systems in vivo.

Citation

Wu, Y., Romero, M., Robertson, S. N., Fenn, S., Fisher, L., Willingham, I., …Mata, A. (2024). Co-assembling living material as an in vitro lung epithelial infection model. Matter, 7(1), 216-236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2023.10.029

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 21, 2023
• Publication Date: Jan 3, 2024
• Deposit Date: Nov 25, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 27, 2023
• Journal: Matter
• Electronic ISSN: 2590-2393
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 216-236
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2023.10.029
• Keywords: Living materials; co-assembly; 3D biofilms; all-liquid bioprint; interkingdom in vitro model; antibiotic resistance
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/27599345
• Publisher URL: https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(23)00551-9