Specially designed nanoparticles have been used to let bacteria communicate with yeast cells by 鈥渢ranslating鈥� chemical messages from one form to another. It is the first time that cells from different kingdoms of life have interacted in this way, and the concept could be used in fields ranging from medicine to agriculture.
at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands and his colleagues engineered a particle that can process a chemical signal from an E. coli cell, a bacterium, then release a chemical that a yeast cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), which is a fungus, can understand.
Previous studies have used nanoparticles to allow cells to interact, but never between different kingdoms of life.
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The team initiated the communication by adding lactose to the cells鈥� growth medium. The E. coli cells responded by secreting an enzyme that breaks down lactose into galactose and glucose.
The nanoparticles, which are about 100 nanometres in diameter, convert glucose into gluconic acid, causing a drop in pH, which causes pores in the nanoparticle to open. This releases phleomycin, a chemical messenger contained in the nanoparticle that can be detected by yeast. The yeast cells were engineered to produce a fluorescent protein in response to the signal, making them glow when this communication occurred.
Currently, the interaction only works in one direction 鈥� the nanoparticles can鈥檛 translate chemical signals from yeast into a form that an E. coli cell would understand, Lorente says.
The technology is still in its early stages and Lorente emphasises that the study is only a proof of concept. But he says there are numerous potential applications. For example, nanoparticles could enable plants under attack from pests to call for help from fungi that produce pesticides.
Lorente says the next step is to use these nanoparticles in a longer cascade of interactions beyond just two cells communicating with each other.
鈥淢uch of the robustness of life stems from the ability of diverse cellular collectives to communicate and coordinate their actions,鈥� says at the University of Bristol in the UK.
鈥淯ntil now, it has been near impossible to effectively reprogram these cellular conversations. This research changes all that by showing how engineered nanoparticles can translate and reroute chemical messages between cells from different kingdoms of life,鈥� he says.
There could be applications for the technology in medicine, such as treating infections, says Gorochowski. 鈥淣anoparticles could be used to reinstate communication channels, whether that be inter or intra-kingdom, or build new ones that are accessible to our immune system.鈥�
