TY - JOUR TI - Artificial cells drive neural differentiation AU - Toparlak, Ö Duhan AU - Zasso, Jacopo AU - Bridi, Simone AU - Serra, Mauro Dalla AU - Macchi, Paolo AU - Conti, Luciano AU - Baudet, Marie-Laure AU - Mansy, Sheref S. T2 - Science Advances AB - We report the construction of artificial cells that chemically communicate with mammalian cells under physiological conditions. The artificial cells respond to the presence of a small molecule in the environment by synthesizing and releasing a potent protein signal, brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Genetically controlled artificial cells communicate with engineered human embryonic kidney cells and murine neural stem cells. The data suggest that artificial cells are a versatile chassis for the in situ synthesis and on-demand release of chemical signals that elicit desired phenotypic changes of eukaryotic cells, including neuronal differentiation. In the future, artificial cells could be engineered to go beyond the capabilities of typical smart drug delivery vehicles by synthesizing and delivering specific therapeutic molecules tailored to distinct physiological conditions. Stimuli-responsive artificial cells synthesize and controllably release therapeutics for neural differentiation. Stimuli-responsive artificial cells synthesize and controllably release therapeutics for neural differentiation. DA - 2020/09/01/ PY - 2020 DO - 10.1126/sciadv.abb4920 DP - advances.sciencemag.org VL - 6 IS - 38 SP - eabb4920 LA - en SN - 2375-2548 UR - https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/38/eabb4920 Y2 - 2020/09/22/20:14:32 ER -