Eva-Kathrin Ehmoser

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna | boku · Institute for Synthetic Bioarchitectures

(Figure Presented) Controlling the context: A novel strategy for the in vitro expression and immediate post-translational membrane insertion of complex membrane proteins into an artificial membrane system is described. In this way problems are circumvented that arise when complex membrane proteins are overexpressed, detergent-solubilized, and subse...

Structurally-reduced cells and cell-derived structures are powerful tools for membrane studies. Using this approach, we probed whether a cell, without its nucleus and cytoplasm, is still capable of undergoing CD4-mediated membrane fusion. For this, we needed a cell-derived structure, akin to a giant liposome functionalised with CD4 and chemokine re...

Membrane proteins are involved in many aspects of cellular biology; for example, they regulate how cells interact with their environment, so such proteins are important drug targets. The rapid advancement in the field of immune effector cell therapy has been expanding the horizons of synthetic membrane receptors in the areas of cell-based immunothe...

The remarkable optoelectronic capabilities of perovskite structures enable the achievement of astonishingly high-power conversion efficiencies on the laboratory scale. However, a critical bottleneck of perovskite solar cells is their sensitivity to the surrounding humid environment affecting drastically their long-term stability. Internal additive...

Investigations of the behavior and effects of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) on human health and the environment need detailed knowledge of their fate and transport in environmental compartments. Such studies are highly challenging due to low environmental concentrations, varying size distribution of the particles and the interference with the nat...

Quantenpunkte (engl. quantum dots, kurz QDs) finden in der Medizin und Umweltforschung immer häufiger Verwendung. Aufgrund ihrer spezifischen optischen Charakteristika können QDs mittels Fluoreszenzanalysen gezielt auch in komplexen Medien, wie Umwelt oder Gewebeproben, detektiert werden. Diese einzigartigen Eigenschaften der QDs machen sie für ein...

The outermost component of cell envelopes of most bacteria and almost all archaea comprise a protein lattice, which is termed Surface (S-)layer. The S-layer lattice constitutes a highly porous structure with regularly arranged pores in the nm-range. Some archaea thrive in extreme milieus, thus producing highly stable S-layer protein lattices that a...

Stem cell technology and embryonic stem cell models are of great interest in biomedical research since they provide deeper insights into, e.g., neurogenesis and early mammalian brain development. Despite their great scientific potential, the reliable establishment of three-dimensional embryoid bodies (EBs) remains a major challenge, and the current...

Bei jedem biologischen Prozess spielen Protein-Protein-Wechselwirkungen eine wesentliche Rolle: DNA-Replikation, Transkription, Translation, Spleißen, Sekretion, Kontrolle des Zellzyklus oder Signaltransduktion können weitgehend anhand ihrer Proteininteraktionen beschrieben werden. Daher ist die Aufklärung dieser Abläufe vor allem eine Aufklärung d...

The production and use of engineered nanomaterials and nano-enabled products is increasing, enabling innovations in many application areas, e.g., in the sector of food contact materials. However, nanosafety-relevant information for chemical risk assessment is still scarce, leading to a high level of uncertainty and making the early integration of s...

Um die Pariser Klimaziele für 2050 zu erreichen, werden neben klassischen, siliziumbasierten Technologien auch neuartige „Emerging Photovoltaics“ (EPVs) zum Einsatz kommen, die flexible, ultradünne und vor allem leichte Photovoltaik (PV)-Module ermöglichen. Hier eröffnen innovative Werkstoffe und Materialien, sogenannte „Advanced Materials“, neue A...

The presence of manufactured nano-objects (MNOs) in various consumer or their (future large-scale) use as nanoagrochemical have increased with the rapid development of nanotechnology and therefore, concerns associated with its possible ecotoxicological effects are also arising. MNOs are releasing along the product life cycle, consequently accumulat...

Um die ökologische Nachhaltigkeit von „Ad? vanced Materials“ (AdMs) in innovativen So? larzelltechnologien (Emerging Photovoltaics, EPVs) abschätzen zu können, ist die Betrach? tung des gesamten Lebenszyklus notwendig. Lebenszyklus?Analysen (Life Cycle Analysis, LCAs) können jene Materialien in einem Pro? dukt identifizieren, die in Relation zu and...

The investigation of membrane proteins, key constituents of cells, is hampered by the difficulty and complexity of their in vitro synthesis, of unpredictable yield. Cell-free synthesis is herein employed to unravel the impact of the expression construct on gene transcription and translation, without the complex regulatory mechanisms of cellular sys...

Organic aromatic compounds used for dyeing and coloring in the textile industry are persistent and hazardous pollutants that must be treated before they are discharged into rivers and surface waters. Therefore, we investigated the potential of the white rot fungus Phanerochaete velutina to decolorize commonly used reactive dyes. The fungus decolori...

Epithelial ovarian cancer involves the shedding of single tumor cells or spheroids from the primary tumor into ascites, followed by their survival, and transit to the sites of metastatic colonization within the peritoneal cavity. During their flotation, anchorage-dependent epithelial-type tumor cells gain anoikis resistance, implicating integrins,...

Amphiphilic block copolymers form self-assembled bilayers even in combination with phospholipids. They represent an attractive alternative to native lipid-based membrane systems for supported bilayer formation with applications in biomedical research, sensoring and drug delivery. Their enhanced stability and excellent mechanical properties are link...

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are nanocrystals used in diverse optoelectronics and at the end of their useful life they are likely to end up in landfills, where they could be leached by infiltrating rain water. In this context, spectroscopic and light scattering techniques were employed in this work to investigate the environmental fate of QDs e...

Irreversible electroporation holds great potential for cell-specific lysis due to the size-dependent susceptibility of cells to externally imposed electric fields. Previous attempts at selective cell lysis lead to significant overlap between affected populations and struggle with inconsistent biological outcome. We propose that charge transfer at t...

Systems designed toward cell manipulation by electric fields are inherently challenged by energy dissipation along the electrode–electrolyte interface. A promising remedy is the introduction of high-k electrode passivation, enabling efficient capacitive coupling of electric fields into biological samples. We present the implementation of this strat...

Irreversible electroporation holds great potential for cell-specific lysis due to the size-dependent susceptibility of cells to externally imposed electric fields. Previous attempts at selective cell lysis lead to significant overlap between affected populations and struggle with inconsistent biological outcome. We propose that charge transfer at t...

Synthetic biology aims to understand fundamental biological processes in more detail than possible for actual living cells. Synthetic biology can combat decomposition and build-up of artificial experimental models under precisely controlled and defined environmental and biochemical conditions. Microfluidic systems can provide the tools to improve a...

The enhanced predictive power of 3D multi-cellular spheroids in comparison to conventional monolayer cultures makes them a promising drug screening tool. However, clinical translation for pharmacology and toxicology is lagging its technological progression. Even though spheroids show a biological complexity resembling native tissue, standardization...

Flash Talk Presentation

The investigation of membrane proteins, key constituents of cells, is hampered by the difficulty and complexity of their in vitro synthesis, of unpredictable yield. Cell-free synthesis is herein employed to unravel the impact of the expression construct on gene transcription and translation, without the complex regulatory mechanisms of cellular sys...

The assessment of drug-dose responses is vital for the prediction of unwanted toxicological effects in modern medicine. Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures techniques can provide in vivo-like spheroids and microtissues that resemble natural tumor function. However, formation of necrotic core and diffusion limitation of chemical compounds within th...

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are widely used for optical applications and bioimaging. In comparison to organic dyes used for fluorescent labelling, QDs exhibit very high photostability and can be further surface modified. Equipping QDs with magnetic properties (mQDs) enables to combine fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging analyses. For t...

This textbook discusses the new relationship between artificial, synthetic material and living matter, and presents defined examples of approaches aiming for the creation of artificial cells. It also offers insights into the world of synthetic biology from its origins to the present day, showing what is currently possible in this discipline. Furthe...

Synthetic biology is a rapidly growing multidisciplinary branch of science which aims to mimic complex biological systems by creating similar forms. Constructing an artificial system requires optimization at the gene and protein levels to allow the formation of entire biological pathways. Advances in cell-free synthetic biology have helped in disco...

The tetraspanin and tumor suppressor KAI1 is downregulated or lost in many cancers which correlates with poor prognosis. KAI1 acts via physical/functional crosstalk with other membrane receptors. Also, a splice variant of KAI1 (KAI1-SP) has been identified indicative of poor prognosis. We here characterized differential effects of the two KAI1 vari...

Polymersomes, vesicles composed of block copolymers, are promising candidates as membrane alternatives and functional containers, e.g., as potential carriers for functional molecules because of their stability and tunable membrane properties. In the scope of possible use for membrane protein delivery to cells by electrofusion, we investigated the c...

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are in a size range of 1 to 100 nm and are already part of our daily life. ENMs are incorporated as semiconductor materials, additives, antibacterial agents etc. in diverse consumer products, such as quantum dot-containing LED applications, nanoclay-containing food packaging or nanosilver-containing surface coatings....

We present a multifunctional nanobiointerface for blood cell capture and phenotyping applications that features both excellent antifouling properties and high antibody activity. Multifunctionality is accomplished by modifying polymeric materials using self-assembled S-layer fusion-protein rSbpA/ZZ to immobilize high density antibodies at the two pr...

Photosynthetic bacteria and green plants have evolved photosynthetic pigments and proteins capable of harnessing light and transducing the energy to chemical potential. These include the light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) protein and its associated chlorophylls, as well as the proteins of the photosystem II (PSII) reaction center. Where LHCII is t...

Synthetisch hergestellte Nanomaterialien sind in der Industrie bereits ein fester Bestandteil und haben zu neuen Produktentwicklungen geführt. Auf der einen Seite versprechen Nanomaterialien aufgrund ihrer Größe sowie spezifischen und chemisch sehr reaktiven Oberflächen vielversprechende Anwendungsgebiete. Auf der anderen Seite lassen sich über der...

Fluorescent nanomaterials and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are already in use in different fields such as electronic devices or for bioimaging due to their outstanding optical properties and high photostability. For example, QDs are applied as semiconductors for LED-applications or solar cells 1. To enhance their colloidal stability as well as...

The number of products containing engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) has increased due to their high industrial relevance as well as their use in diverse consumer products. At the end of their life cycle ENMs might be released to the environment and therefore concerns arise regarding their environmental impact. In order to track their fate upon dispos...

High quantum yields, colloidal stability and surfaces amenable to diverse chemical modifications are critical objectives for quantum dot (QD) synthesis. We present an approach of QD preparation developed for achieving these criteria. In addition, the nascent QDs are already water-soluble. We then partially exchanged the N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) liga...

One of most important processes in nature is the harvesting and dissipation of solar energy with the help of light-harvesting complex II (LHCII). This protein, along with its associated pigments, is the main solar-energy collector in higher plants. We aimed to generate stable, highly controllable, and sustainable polymer-based membrane systems cont...

Eines der wirkungsvollsten Konzepte der Natur ist die Aufnahme und Umwandlung von Sonnenenergie durch den Lichtsammelkomplex II (LHCII). Dieser Protein-Pigment-Komplex mit seinen zugehörigen Pigmenten ist der Hauptsonnenenergiekollektor in Pflanzen. Unser Ziel ist es, ein stabiles, reproduzierbares und ressourcenschonendes LHCII-Pigment-Material au...

Integration of native proteins in functional assemblies is one of the ongoing visions in the field of biomimetics. We went a very long and winding road in order to develop a protocol for de novo synthesis of the light harvesting complex of higher plants (LHCII) into polymeric architectures. Of course, this road is quite well paved if looking into i...

We present an elegant synthesis and reconstitution approach for functional studies of voltage responsive membrane proteins. For such studies, we propose a planar architecture of an S-layer-supported lipid membrane as a suitable matrix for presenting unmodified membrane protein species, and here we focus on the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC)...

Silica-based nanoparticles (SiNPs) are presented to harvest complex membrane proteins, which have been embedded into unilammelar polymersomes via in vitro membrane assisted protein synthesis (iMAP). Size-optimized SiNPs have been surface-modified with polymer-targeting antibodies, which are employed to harvest the protein-containing polymersomes. T...

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are already extensively used in diverse consumer products. Along the life cycle of a nano-enabled product, ENMs can be released and subsequently accumulate in the environment. Material flow models also indicate that a variety of ENMs may accumulate in waste streams. Therefore, a new type of waste, so-called nanowaste...

Integrins, as transmembrane heterodimeric receptors, take over important functions in cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, survival (apoptosis), and signal transduction, in many physio- as well as pathophysiological settings. Characterization of integrins and their ligand/antagonist binding is notoriously difficult due to high integrin redundan...

The most important aspect of synthetic lipid membrane architectures is their ability to study functional membrane-active peptides and membrane proteins in an environment close to nature. Here, we report on the generation and performance of a biomimetic platform, the S-layer supported lipid membrane (SsLM), to investigate the structural and electric...

Nanotechnology and engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are already established in high-tech consumer products. Currently the Nanowerk Nanomaterial DatabaseTM contains over 3’000 ENMs which can be used for R&D and commercialization. As a result, metal-based ENMs, such as nano-TiO2, -SiO2, -ZnO, -Ag etc., are applied, e.g., for cosmetics and construction...

Although the identification of the multigene family encoding mammalian olfactory receptors were identified more than 20 years ago, we are far from understanding olfactory perception because of the difficulties in functional expression of these receptors in heterologous cell systems. Cell-free (CF) or in vitro expression systems offer an elegant alt...

Integrin heterodimeric cell adhesion and signalling receptors bind ligands of the extracellular matrix and relay signals bidirectionally across cell membranes. Thereby integrins adopt multiple conformational and functional states which control ligand binding affinity and linkage to cytosolic/cytoskeletal proteins. Here, we designed an integrin chim...