Programming self-organizing multicellular structures with synthetic cell-cell signaling
Open accessAbstract
Engineering multilayered cellular structures: The ability to program the manufacture of biological structures may yield new biomaterials or synthetic tissues and organs. Toda et al. engineered mammalian “sender” and “receiver” cells with synthetic cell surface ligands and receptors that controlled gene regulatory circuits based on Notch signaling. Programming the cells to express cell adhesion molecules and other regulatory molecules enabled spontaneous formation of multilayered structures, like those that form during embryonic development. The three-layered structures even showed regeneration after injury. Science , this issue p. 156
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Laboratory experiments and engineered multicellular systems suggest that simple MC10 is relatively easy to obtain.
“Laboratory experiments [178,179] and engineered multicellular systems [180,181] suggest that simple MC10 is relatively easy to obtain.”
From Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems (2024) · cites this paper as [181]
The section “Synthetic assembly is robust, reversible, and self-repairing” reports that an engineered three-layer structure formed in about 90% of cultures. The paper therefore supports the claim that simple multicellular organization can be produced reliably in an engineered system, but it does not identify the result as “MC10” or establish how readily that specific level is obtained. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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- Authors
- Toda, S., Blauch, L. R., Tang, S. K. Y., Morsut, L., & Lim, W. A.
- Affiliations
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- University of Southern California (US)
- Corresponding author
- Morsut, Leonardo
- Lim, Wendell A.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2018-07-13
- Volume
- 361
- Issue
- 6398
- Pages
- 156-162
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC6492944
- OpenAlex
- W2806766210
- Cited by
- 470
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 70 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 70 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 18
- FWCI
- 17.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (DBI-1548297)
- National Institutes of Health (5P50GM081879, 1K99EB021030)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Defense Sciences Office, DARPA
- Human Frontier Science Program
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- European Molecular Biology Organization
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gene Regulatory Network Analysis
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
- Keywords
- self-organization, multicellular structures, cell-to-cell communication, juxtacrine signaling, cell sorting, symmetry breaking, tissue regeneration, evolution of multicellularity, synthetic gene circuits, tissue engineering
- MeSH terms
- Cell Adhesion, Cell Communication, Cells, Morphogenesis, Signal Transduction, Spheroids, Cellular, Artificial Cells, Cell Engineering
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