Chemical-triggered artificial cell based on metal-organic framework

An artificial cell based on an inducible cell-free expression system and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), which can be triggered by chemical signals, was proposed in this study. The DNA expression templates were spatiotemporally encapsulated in MOF nanoparticles by co-precipitation and then wrapped in bio-mimicking liposomes. The signal of acidic pH or glucose induced the decomposition of MOFs, exposing the DNAs to start the cell-free expression to produce desired biopharmaceutical proteins. Therefore, the transcription and translation process could be controlled by simple chemical signals. This study investigated an unexplored topic of using MOFs in the construction of artificial cells, which could open new possibilities for future synthetic biology studies and therapeutic applications.