Inspired by the biogenic magnetism found in certain organisms, such as magnetotactic bacteria, magnetic nanomaterials have been integrated into living cells for bioorthogonal, magnetic manipulation of the cells. However, magnetized cells have so far been reported to be only binary system (on/off) without any control of magnetization degree, limiting their applications typically to the simple accumulation or separation of cells as a whole. In this work, the magnetization degree is tightly controlled, leading to the generation of multiple subgroups of the magnetized cells, and each subgroup is manipulated independently from the other subgroups in the pool of heterogeneous cell-mixtures. This work will provide a strategic approach to tailor-made fabrication of magnetically functionalized living cells as micro-magnets, and open new vistas in biotechnological and biomedical applications, which highly demand the spatio-temporal manipulation of living cells.

Nanoencapsulation of living cells within artificial shells is a powerful approach for augmenting the inherent capacity of cells and enabling the acquisition of extrinsic functions. However, the current state of the field requires the development of nanoshells that can dynamically sense and adapt to environmental changes by undergoing transformations in form and composition. This paper reports the compositional transformation of an enzyme‐embedded nanoshell of Fe³⁺‐trimesic acid complex to an iron phosphate shell in phosphate‐containing media. The cytocompatible transformation allows the nanoshells to release functional molecules without loss of activities and biorecognition, while preserving the initial shell properties, such as cytoprotection. Demonstrations include the lysis and killing of Escherichia coli by lysozyme, and the secretion of interleukin‐2 by Jurkat T cells in response to paracrine stimulation by antibodies. This work on micrometric Transformers will benefit the creation of cell‐in‐shell nanobiohybrids that can interact with their surroundings in active and adaptive ways.

Despite remarkable advances in the design and synthesis of hollow inorganic spheres (HISs), the harsh synthetic conditions have precluded the applications of HISs to biochemical and biological fields. Herein we report a biocompatible strategy for synthesizing metal hydroxide HISs (MH-HISs) by simply mixing CaCO₃ particles with metal ions in water. The ion-exchange reaction between Ca²⁺ and metal ions leads to the structural and chemical evolution from solid CaCO₃ particles to hollow MH-HISs via core-shell and yolk-shell structures, while enabling the encapsulation of enzymes to the shells without loss of catalytic activities. The biocompatible protocol makes multienzymatic cascade reactions achievable, with great recyclability due to mechanical durability of MH-HISs.

Living organisms use intricate strategies to adapt and survive in response to potentially lethal environment changes. Inspired by cryptobiosis in nature, researchers have pioneered approaches to create cell-in-shell nanobiohybrids, aiming to endow cells with enhanced protection and exogenous functions. Yet, these methods still lack the biological autonomy intrinsic to natural cellular responses. Here, we present an innovative chemo-metabolically coupled strategy for the autonomous construction of cell-in-shell structures in cell growth medium. Our system harnesses ethanol fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae , chemically coupled with an enzymatic cascade involving alcohol oxidase and horseradish peroxidase, to drive the nanoshell formation of polydopamine. The integration of autonomous shell formation with cellular proliferation produces anisotropic cell-in-shell structures, which can serve as enzyme-powered cell microrobots, upon conjugation with urease. Our autonomous system enables the creation of cell-in-shell nanobiohybrids with dynamic and adaptive environmental interactions, paving the way for transformative applications in synthetic biology, such as artificial cells, as well as advancements in cell-based therapies.