Strategies for Controlling Synthetic Cells: Approaches, Models, Applications

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will explore cutting-edge research related to synthetic cells (artificial cells), their construction, and the various strategies to control their behavior and their potential applications.  Research on synthetic cells has advanced greatly in recent years. These man-made structures can be designed and built in different manners, and with different materials, so that a variety of cell-like or artificial functions can be achieved. These continuous biotechnological advancements allow the construction of very interesting systems whose behavior is far from being trivial. Synthetic cells have been used as a tool for mimicking and understanding the behavior of biological cells, as well as functioning for real-life applications such as bioreactors, drug delivery, and biosensors. These research topics have attracted significant attention in recent years.

In order to control synthetic cells, several strategies have been devised. Attention has been focused on applying biochemical signals as well as mechanisms based on illumination. Biochemical signals operate thanks to the principles of molecular recognition, assuring elevated specificity, e.g., binding to receptors, nucleotide base pairing, formation of protein–DNA complexes, etc. Thanks to these mechanisms, properly designed synthetic cells can behave in a controlled manner. Optogenetic mechanisms and light-controlled protein functions also contribute to the synthetic biology toolbox for controlling synthetic cells. Higher order patterns, based on the coordinated behavior of ensembles communicating synthetic cells (e.g., tissue-like systems), have also become an attractive target in the field.

Advances in controlling mechanisms will lead to systems of higher complexity, and at the same time, it will enhance synthetic cell utility and performances, reaching the goal of constructing programmable synthetic cells. Controlling synthetic cell behavior will favor both fundamental research and biological applications.

This Special Issue is now open for submissions. Original articles (experiments or numerical models), reviews, perspectives, and opinions about this exciting field are welcome, focusing both on basic and applied science. It would be appreciated if interested authors submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) or brief proposal (e.g., title, abstract) to the MDPI Life Editorial Office or the Special Issue academic editors.

Dr. Feiran Li
Prof. Pasquale Stano
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• artificial cells
• bioreactors
• biosensor
• cell-free systems
• coacervates
• controlled behavior
• DNA signals
• drug delivery
• gene expression regulation
• liposomes
• microcompartments
• modeling
• molecular communication
• nanomedicine
• nanoparticles
• optogenetics
• polymersomes
• protocells
• signaling
• stimulus-response
• synthetic biology
• synthetic cells