人工细胞在合成生物学中的应用

Advancements in the application of artificial cells in synthetic biology

摘要:

人工细胞作为一种模拟天然细胞结构和功能的人工系统，在多个领域的研究中发挥着重要作用。基于人工细胞构建策略可分为“自上而下”的人工细胞和“自下而上”的人工细胞。这与以构建或模拟天然生物细胞中存在的复杂路径为目标的“自下而上”的合成生物学思想不谋而合。利用合成生物学“自下而上”的逻辑属性，可以工程化设计人工细胞，并应用于生物工程、医药和疾病治疗等领域。本文重点介绍了人工细胞在合成生物学和医学领域中的应用，尤其是基于人工细胞构建的药物递送系统以及人工细胞在组织工程和再生医学中的应用。同时探讨了如何运用新的工程方法提高人工细胞的活性和稳定性，从而缩小人工细胞与天然细胞之间的差距。本文可为加速和推进多功能人工细胞的研究，将人工细胞的应用范围扩展到生物技术、医学和靶向药物治疗等诸多领域提供参考，为人类社会的可持续性发展提供更多可能性。

Abstract:

Artificial cells, designed to mimic the structure and functions of natural cells, play a crucial role in various research domains. Artificial cells can be constructed through “top-down” and “bottom-up” strategies, and the latter aligns closely with synthetic biology ideology of creating or mimicking the complex pathways in natural cells. Increasingly synthetic biologists are utilizing “bottom-up” approaches to engineer artificial cells for applications in biotechnology, medicine, and disease therapy. This paper explores the applications of artificial cells in synthetic biology and medicine, with a particular focus on their development as drug delivery systems and their utilization in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Additionally, this paper examines how novel engineering methods can enhance the activity and stability of artificial cells, thus bridging the gap between artificial and natural cells. This review is expected to accelerate the research on multifunctional artificial cells, broadening their applications across various fields such as biotechnology, medicine, and targeted drug therapy. This expansion holds the potential to offer significant advancements in the sustainability and improvement of the human society.