A smart pathogen detector engineered from intracellular hydrogelation of DNA-decorated macrophages

Bacterial infection is a major threat to global public health, which urgently requires useful tools to rapidly analyze pathogens in the early stages of infection. Herein, we develop a smart macrophage (Mo)-based bacteria detector, which can recognize, capture, enrich and detect different bacteria and their secreted exotoxins. We transform the fragile native Mos into robust gelated cell particles (GMos) using photo-activated crosslinking chemistry, which retains membrane integrity and recognition capacity for different microbes. Meanwhile, these GMos equipped with magnetic nanoparticles and DNA sensing elements can not only respond to an external magnet for facile bacteria collection, but allow the detection of multiple types of bacteria in a single assay. Additionally, we design a propidium iodide-based staining assay to rapidly detect pathogen-associated exotoxins at ultralow concentrations. Overall, these nanoengineered cell particles have broad applicability in the analysis of bacteria, and could potentially be used for the management and diagnosis of infectious diseases.

Automated summary

A new type of macrophage-based bacteria detector has been developed, which can rapidly analyze pathogens in the early stages of infection, showing broad applicability in the field of infectious disease management and diagnosis.