Silica Device Translates Signals Between Bacteria and Yeast

Researchers in Spain have created a system that acts as a “nanotranslator,” making it possible for yeast to respond to a signal sent by bacteria. The tool, which is the first to enable two unrelated organisms to communicate, could be used to manipulate behavior of unrelated cells or protect against disease.  

In nature, cells send and receive chemical signals. Such chemical communication has inspired researchers to devise their own means to join these conversations and give cells instructions. While some studies have examined micro- or nano-scale particles that communicate with one type of cell, this is the first instance where particles enable communication between two different types of cells.

But, if chemistry were a language, yeast and bacteria cells speak dialects virtually unintelligible to each other. To enable such communication, Antoni Llopis-Lorente and colleagues at CIBER de Bioingeniería in Madrid built a nanotranslator from silica nanoparticles loaded with two molecules: one that reacts with glucose, and another molecule called phleomycin. The signaling system they constructed had two steps. First, the researchers initiated a signal by exposing Escherichia coli to lactose. The bacteria converted the lactose into glucose, which reacted with the nanotranslator.  Next, the nanotranslator released phleomycin, another messenger compound, which the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae detected and responded to by fluorescing—behavior it had been genetically engineered to do.

The researchers envision many possible applications for nanotranslator-based communication systems. Similar devices could be used to tell cells to turn off certain processes and to switch on others, or to alter the activity of human immune cells to treat disease.

The findings are described in a study published in American Chemical Society’s Nano Letters.