Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells

Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells Andreas Walther, Weixiang Chen, Siyu Song, Avik Samanta, Soumya Sethi, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5048001/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Chemical Engineering → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Intracellular structures, like the cytoskeletons, form within a crowded cytoplasm with defined viscoelastic properties. While crowding effects on self-assembly are well studied, the role of viscoelasticity in regulating structure formation remains elusive. Here, we engineer crowded all-DNA synthetic cells (SCs) with tunable viscoelastic interiors to investigate this phenomenon. We introduce a facile approach to integrate multiple DNA barcodes with adjustable concentrations into SCs, enabling selective enrichment of DNA tiles to form artificial cytoskeletons coupled to the viscoelastic SC interior. Distinct mechanistic differences in assembly occur compared to solution or simple crowding. Additionally, we develop light, molecular, and metabolic controls to direct structure formation and create self-sorted SC populations with distinct artificial cytoskeletons. These cytoskeletons enhance the mechanical stability of SCs and support stable contacts with mammalian cells. Our SC system serves as a versatile molecular engineering platform to study self-assembly under viscoelastic constraints and leverage sub-SC structures for challenging applications. Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/DNA nanotechnology Physical sciences/Materials science/Biomaterials/Bioinspired materials Physical sciences/Chemistry/Supramolecular chemistry/Self-assembly Physical sciences/Materials science/Soft materials Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementaryinformation.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Chemical Engineering → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5048001","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":359028675,"identity":"9ac58f29-5671-40ad-8bf5-a85c58110798","order_by":0,"name":"Andreas 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