Biology subjects

Banlaki, I.

Publications and source records attributed to Banlaki, I..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Tardigrade-Derived Strategy for Low-Cost Storage of Cell-Free Expression Lysates

Cell-free expression systems (CFES) are increasingly used alongside conventional biotechnological approaches to accelerate early-stage prototyping and are particularly valuable in point-of-use settings. However, their broader adoption remains limited by time- and cost-intensive preparation, as well as stringent cryogenic storage requirements. To address this, several studies have explored lyophilization with protective additives to generate stable, solid-state CFES. These approaches had to balance the protection gained with a loss of activity due to the additives. In this study, we present a CFES that contains a tardigrade-derived Cytosolic-Abundant Heat-Soluble (CAHS) protein to protect the biosynthetic machinery in lysates from damages during drying. We show that the CAHS protein, without any other additives, preserves protein synthesis activity during low-cost room temperature desiccation, while unprotected lysates are affected in mRNA synthesis kinetics and translation yields. The diversity of tardigrade-derived protective proteins is a treasure trove for cell-free synthetic biology, in particular for making CFES more accessible and portable. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=85 SRC="FIGDIR/small/715078v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (27K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11cd5b7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@130c02org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@795c78org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1a5ffdd_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

synthetic biology↗

bioRxiv2025

RNA-based communication in heterogeneous populations of cell mimics

RNA regulators offer a promising path for building complex, orthogonal circuits due to their low resource demands and design flexibility. In this study we explore their potential as signaling molecules in communication between synthetic cells. Specifically, we engineer populations of heterogenetic porous polymer cell mimics to produce, emit and receive two types of small synthetic RNA regulators. These RNAs are required to activate reporter expression at both the levels of transcription and translation. We distribute this AND gate circuit in receiver and two types of sender cell mimics to compare the distributed logic computation to the behavior of the circuit in well-mixed, bulk cell-free expression reactions. Analyzing different densities and spatial arrangements of senders and receivers, we reveal spatiotemporal gradients in RNA signals and identify configurations that increase specific activation. With small regulatory RNAs, the engineering toolbox for communication between synthetic cells expands to include a programmable class of signaling molecules. The rapid turnover of RNA suggests applications in establishing dynamic signaling gradients in communities of synthetic cells. Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=110 SRC="FIGDIR/small/673985v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (27K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@3892b3org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@2751feorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1780922org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19fc511_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

synthetic biology↗