Abstract
Understanding cell behaviour on synthetic surfaces is of
foremost interest to engineer microenvironments that
direct cell fate. As cells cannot interact directly with
synthetic biomaterials, surfaces have been
functionalized with a broad range of proteins,
fragments, peptides and growth factors. However, these
passive coatings can by no means provide the dynamic
stimuli required to orchestrate cell responses and
organise the formation of a new tissue at the material
interface. Significant efforts have focused on
engineering materials that recapitulate characteristics of
ECM, such as the presentation of cell adhesive motifs or
protease degradable cross-links, in order to direct
cellular responses1. However, the development of a
cell/material interface able to provide biological stimuli
upon demand has not been established yet. We
hypothesised that non-pathogenic bacteria can provide
such a role, as they can colonise the surface of a broad
range of materials and can be genetically modified to
express or secrete desired adhesive proteins or factors to
a living cell population, upon demand. This work
investigates the potential of a living interface based on
Lactococcus Lactis expressing a FN fragment (FNIII7-
10) as a membrane protein to direct cell adhesion,
signalling and differentiation2. This system introduces
engineered bacteria as a new tool to direct cell
behaviour at the material interface.
