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Materials

DNA-Programmed Synthesis Of Tissues

Synthetic Biology: Method directs layer-by-layer growth of three-dimensional tissues

by Celia Henry Arnaud
September 7, 2015 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 93, Issue 35

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Credit: Nat. Methods
DNA patterning was used to build this tissue, which exhibits branching similar to the human mammary gland.
3-D programmed tissue with a branching pattern similar to that of the human mammary gland.
Credit: Nat. Methods
DNA patterning was used to build this tissue, which exhibits branching similar to the human mammary gland.

Figuring out how tissue architecture affects tissue function is hard to do without a way to control that architecture. Zev J. Gartner of the University of California, San Francisco, and coworkers do it via a DNA hybridization method that builds organlike tissues layer-by-layer (Nat. Methods 2015, DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.3553). First, they pattern an array of DNA spots on a glass substrate. Cells labeled with complementary DNA bind to the DNA on the substrate. By alternating the DNA labeling, they build up tissue with various types of cells in controlled locations. When the tissue reaches the desired size, the researchers add liquid synthetic extracellular matrix containing a DNA-cleaving enzyme that releases the tissue from the substrate. The method works with various cell types and allows the researchers to simultaneously control the size, shape, composition, and spatial arrangement of the resulting tissue. The group used the method to study how tissue size, shape, and composition affect the behavior of individual cells and the patterns of tissue growth.

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