© Raphael Schleutker

Research Topic

The research aim of our group is the spatiotemporal control of cell-material and cell-cell interactions and associated processes in natural and synthetic minimal cells by using visible light. These photoswitchable interactions offer non-invasive remote control over cell adhesions, enable us to self-assemble and self-sort cells into multicellular functional architectures with high precision, regulate their interactions with synthetic materials, produce hybrid systems with defined communication and to study the underlying biology. Synthetic minimal cells, which reduce complexity and yet capture key features of natural cells, allow us to quantify and correlate cell behavior with molecular information. This will enable us to address questions in cell biology as well as engineer new synthetic cells.

Selected Publications

  • Quispe Haro, J. J.; Chen, F.; Los, R.; Shi, S.; Sun, W.; Chen, Y.; Idema, T. and Wegner, S.V. (2024). Optogenetic Control of Bacterial Cell‐Cell Adhesion Dynamics: Unraveling the Influence on Biofilm Architecture and Functionality. Advanced Science, 2310079. doi.org/10.1002/advs.202310079.
  • Nzigou Mombo, B.; Bijonowski, B. M.; Raab, C. A.; Niland, S.; Brockhaus, K.; Müller, M.; Eble, J. A.; Wegner, S. V. (2023). Reversible Photoregulation of Cell-Cell Adhesions with Opto-E-cadherin. Nat. Commun. 14: 6292. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41932-0.
  • Ji, Y.; Chakraborty, T.; Wegner, S. V. (2023). Self-Regulated and Bidirectional Communication in Synthetic Cell Communities. ACS Nano, 17(10):8992. doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c09908.
  • Chakraborty, T.; Wegner, S. V. (2021). Cell to Cell Signaling Through Light in Artificial Cell Communities: Glowing Predator Lures Prey. ACS Nano, 15 (6): 9434. doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c01600.
  • Mueller, M.; Rasoulinejad, S.; Garg, S.; Wegner, S. V. (2020). The Importance of Cell–Cell Interaction Dynamics in Bottom-Up Tissue Engineering: Concepts of Colloidal Self-Assembly in the Fabrication of Multicellular Architectures. Nano Lett., 20(4):2257. doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b04160.