Journal ArticleStrategies and applications of synthetic cell communicationMoghimianavval, Hossein; Newell, Charlie; Parvizian, Parsa; Booth, Michael J; Liu, Allen PNACell signalling and communication are fundamental to living cellular communities. For the past two decades, there has been continuous development of bottom-up engineered synthetic cells, which have become more and more similar to their natural counterparts. However, we are only scratching the surface with the development of synthetic cellular communities and their integration into natural tissues. Here, we review different intercellular communication mechanisms engineered for synthetic cells and classify them based on their resemblance to natural cell signalling mechanisms: autocrine, paracrine, and juxtacrine. In particular, we highlight recent advances in molecular tools for intercellular communication designs and discuss potential applications of engineering synthetic cellular communities and synthetic cell-natural cell communication. With further advances in this area, synthetic cellular communities will be powerful tools for understanding and manipulating cellular functions, thus unlocking potential applications in biosensing, cellular reprogramming, and sustainability.Nature Publishing Group2025-08-2610632689Nature Chemical Biology2191317 to 13291552-4450https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-025-02002-21935265National Science Foundation