Mingqi Xie

Chronically deregulated blood-glucose concentrations in diabetes mellitus result from a loss of pancreatic insulin-producing β cells (type 1 diabetes, T1D) or from impaired insulin sensitivity of body cells and glucose-stimulated insulin release (type 2 diabetes, T2D). Here, we show that therapeutically applicable β-cell-mimetic designer cells can be established by minimal engineering of human cells. We achieved glucose responsiveness by a synthetic circuit that couples glycolysis-mediated calcium entry to an excitation-transcription system controlling therapeutic transgene expression. Implanted circuit-carrying cells corrected insulin deficiency and self-sufficiently abolished persistent hyperglycemia in T1D mice. Similarly, glucose-inducible glucagon-like peptide 1 transcription improved endogenous glucose-stimulated insulin release and glucose tolerance in T2D mice. These systems may enable a combination of diagnosis and treatment for diabetes mellitus therapy.

With the increasingly dominant role of smartphones in our lives, mobile health care systems integrating advanced point-of-care technologies to manage chronic diseases are gaining attention. Using a multidisciplinary design principle coupling electrical engineering, software development, and synthetic biology, we have engineered a technological infrastructure enabling the smartphone-assisted semiautomatic treatment of diabetes in mice. A custom-designed home server SmartController was programmed to process wireless signals, enabling a smartphone to regulate hormone production by optically engineered cells implanted in diabetic mice via a far-red light (FRL)-responsive optogenetic interface. To develop this wireless controller network, we designed and implanted hydrogel capsules carrying both engineered cells and wirelessly powered FRL LEDs (light-emitting diodes). In vivo production of a short variant of human glucagon-like peptide 1 (shGLP-1) or mouse insulin by the engineered cells in the hydrogel could be remotely controlled by smartphone programs or a custom-engineered Bluetooth-active glucometer in a semiautomatic, glucose-dependent manner. By combining electronic device-generated digital signals with optogenetically engineered cells, this study provides a step toward translating cell-based therapies into the clinic.

Electronic control of designer cells There is increasing interest in using designer cells to produce or deliver therapeutics. Achieving direct communication between such cells and electronic devices would allow precise control of therapies. Krawczyk et al. describe a bioelectronic interface that uses wireless-powered electrical stimulation of cells to promote the release of insulin (see the Perspective by Brier and Dordick). The authors engineered human β cells to respond to membrane depolarization by rapidly releasing insulin from intracellular storage vesicles. A bioelectronic device that incorporates the cells can be wirelessly triggered by an external field generator. When subcutaneously implanted in type 1 diabetic mice, the device could be triggered to restore normal blood glucose levels. Science , this issue p. 993 ; see also p. 936