Gas vesicles: fundamental understanding and applications in biomanufacturing and sustainability

Gas vesicles are a class of air-filled protein organelles discovered in photosynthetic microbes, which use them as intracellular flotation devices. Their 3-nm-thin, rigid protein shells can withstand tens of atmospheres of pressure, making them both more stable and smaller than conventional lipid-encapsulated bubbles. As such, gas vesicles represent a remarkable class of nanomaterials evolved by nature. In this talk, we will first explore how to leverage their unique material properties for various biotechnological applications. This includes our recent work that has further shrunk them down to the size of a virus, representing some of the smallest free-floating ‘bubbles’ ever made and enabling ultrasound access to lymph-node-resident cells. Next, we will discuss our newer endeavors in using gas vesicles in protein and cell biomanufacturing and in engineered living materials. Notably, the ability to develop these applications is inseparable from a fundamental understanding of their biochemistry. To this end, we will discuss our recent progress in elucidating how accessory proteins cooperate in their assembly process, and the role of phase-separable proteins in governing the spatial organization of these microbial organelles.

George Lu, Ph.D.
Rice University
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering 
CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research

Download PDF flyer