Construction of innovative cellular carrier controllable with magnetic field for in vivo material transport

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K18913
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 27:Chemical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Arakaki Atsushi 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (10367154)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 吉野 知子 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (30409750)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-06-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 物質輸送 / バイオミネラリゼーション / 遺伝子発現制御 / 生体機能利用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to modify the magnetic nanoparticle synthesis capability and cell membrane composition of bacteria to construct a cell-type carrier with high magnetic responsivity and spontaneous motility. We showed that genetic modification can control the number and size of magnetic nanoparticles in cells, thereby enhancing magnetic responsivity of the cells. We also established a new method to quantitatively evaluate the magnetic response function of cells, and showed that it is applicable to quantitatively evaluate the magnetic response ability of cells with different magnetic nanoparticle synthesis capabilities. Furthermore, we succeeded in increasing the content of phosphatidylcholine in the cell membrane composition by gene expression of phosphatidylcholine synthase.

Free Research Field

生物工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、遺伝子組換えによる細菌細胞の磁気応答能と膜構造を大きく改変可能であることを示した。遺伝子組換えによる人工細胞創出の方法と実現可能性を示した点で学術的な意義がある。将来的な応用としては、磁気ドラッグデリバリーシステムへの利用に加え、磁気ハイパーサーミアやMRI造影剤としての利用が考えられる。また本研究で得られる成果は、生物による物質生産の回収技術、ナノ材料開発等の分野にも波及効果があると考えられる。