Abstract
The compartmentalized and communicative nature of biological cells contributes to the complexity and endurance of living organisms. We present a general compartmentalization strategy for in vitro systems that inherits the passive transport phenomenon of biology. The strategy incorporates layered, micrometer-sized, hydrogel-based compartments featuring configurability in composition, functionality and selective permeability of biomolecules. We demonstrated the utility of the strategy by reconstituting a compartmentalized in vitro protein synthesis system which supports multiple rounds of reactions and compartmentalized living bacteria-based biosensors which sustain long-lasting functioning with markedly enhanced fitness in complex environments. The strategy should be widely applicable for constructing complex, robust and sustained in vitro synthetic molecular and cellular systems, paving the way for their practical applications.
Competing Interest Statement
A patent of methods described in this paper is under application.
