A recursive vesicle-based model protocell with a primitive model cell cycle

Kurihara, Kensuke; Okura, Yusaku; Matsuo, Mitsuhiro; Toyota, Taro; Suzuki, Kentaro; Sugawara, Tadashi

doi:10.1038/ncomms9352

Cited by 194 publications

(160 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Some examples are the fusion driven by attraction of oppositely charged vesicles 28 , fusion induced by multivalent ions between vesicles of special amphiphilic compositions, e.g. Eu 3+29 or La 3+30 , ultraviolet light radiation-induced fusion 31 , electrofusion 32 , fusion involving amphiphilic catalysts 33 , also in combination with thermal cycles and pH changes 34 , and the fusion mediated by the hybridization of complementary SNARE proteins 35 or DNA linkers 36 , embedded in initially distinct vesicle membranes.…”

Section: Mechanism Of Rapid Growth and Fusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid growth and fusion of protocells in surface-adhered membrane networks

Köksal

Liese

Xue

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Elevated temperatures might have promoted the nucleation, growth and replication of protocells on the early Earth. Recent reports have shown evidence that moderately high temperatures not only permit protocell assembly at the origin of life, but could have actively supported it. Here we show the fast nucleation and growth of vesicular compartments from autonomously formed lipid networks on solid surfaces, induced by a moderate increase in temperature. Branches of the networks, initially consisting of self-assembled interconnected nanotubes, rapidly swell into microcompartments which can spontaneously encapsulate RNA fragments. The increase in temperature further causes fusion of adjacent networkconnected compartments, resulting in the redistribution of the RNA. The experimental observations and the mathematical model indicate that the presence of nanotubular interconnections between protocells facilitates the fusion process.The important role of solid surface support for the autonomous formation of primitive protocells has been suggested earlier in the context of the origin of life 1,2 . Hanczyc, Szostak et al. showed that vesicle formation from fatty acids was significantly enhanced in the presence of solid particle surfaces consisting of natural minerals or synthetic materials 1,2 . Particularly the silicate-based minerals accelerated the vesicle generation.In a recent report, we showed the autonomous formation and growth of surface adhered protocell populations as a result of a sequence of topological transformations on a solid substrate 3 . Briefly, upon contact with a mineral-like solid substrate, a lipid reservoir spreads as a double bilayer membrane. The distal membrane (upper -with respect to the surface-) ruptures and forms a carpet of lipid nanotubes. Over the course of a few hours, fragments of these nanotubes swell into giant, strictly unilamellar vesicular compartments. This relatively slow process is entirely self-driven and only requires a lipid reservoir as source, a solid surface, and surrounding aqueous media. The resulting structure consists of thousands of lipid compartments, which are physically connected to each other via a

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Section: Mechanism Of Rapid Growth and Fusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid growth and fusion of protocells in surface-adhered membrane networks

Köksal

Liese

Xue

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Membranes are abundant in biology, acting as the effective barrier that compartmentalizes life into cells and organelles that can accumulate resources and reproduce [1, 2]. This compartmentalization of life allows for concentration gradients to exist between cellular structures, which can be established or exploited by membrane-embedded proteins, such as the creation and use of a proton gradient by the oxidative phosphorylation pathway in mitochondria [3].…”

Section: Membrane Activity Is a Critical Factor In The Biology Of Smamentioning

confidence: 99%

The cellular membrane as a mediator for small molecule interaction with membrane proteins

Mayne

Arcario

Mahinthichaichan

et al. 2016

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes

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The cellular membrane constitutes the first element that encounters a wide variety of molecular species to which a cell might be exposed. Hosting a large number of structurally and functionally diverse proteins associated with this key metabolic compartment, the membrane not only directly controls the traffic of various molecules in and out of the cell, it also participates in such diverse and important processes as signal transduction and chemical processing of incoming molecular species. In this article, we present a number of cases where details of interaction of small molecular species such as drugs with the membrane, which are often experimentally inaccessible, have been studied using advanced molecular simulation techniques. We have selected systems in which partitioning of the small molecule with the membrane constitutes a key step for its final biological function, often binding to and interacting with a protein associated with the membrane. These examples demonstrate that membrane partitioning is not only important for the overall distribution of drugs and other small molecules into different compartments of the body, it may also play a key role in determining the efficiency and the mode of interaction of the drug with its target protein.

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“…9,10 Cell-sized liposomes that encapsulate biomolecules and incorporate biological functions provide a versatile mimic of certain aspects of living cells, as exemplified by work showing RNA replication, [11][12][13] in vitro transcription and translation of gene networks, 6,14-16 and organization of cell division machinery in liposomes. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Monodisperse Uni- and Multicompartment Liposomes

Deng¹,

Yelleswarapu²,

Huck³

2016

J. Am. Chem. Soc.

230

228

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Liposomes are self-assembled phospholipid vesicles with great potential in fields ranging from targeted drug delivery to artificial cells. The formation of liposomes using microfluidic techniques has seen considerable progress, but the liposomes formation process itself has not been studied in great detail. As a result, high throughput, high-yielding routes to monodisperse liposomes with multiple compartments have not been demonstrated. Here, we report on a surfactant-assisted microfluidic route to uniform, single bilayer liposomes, ranging from 25 µm to 190 µm, and with or without multiple inner compartments. The key of our method is the precise control over the developing interfacial energies of complex W/O/W emulsion systems during liposome formation, which is achieved via an additional surfactant in the phase. The liposomes consist of single bilayers, as demonstrated by nanopore formation experiments and confocal fluoresce microscopy, and they can act as compartments for cell-free gene expression. The microfluidic technique can be expanded to create liposomes with a multitude of coupled compartments, opening routes to networks of multistep microreactors.There has been a significant interest in the use of liposomes, self-assembled phospholipid vesicles composed of bilayer membranes, in fields as diverse as targeted drug delivery, 1,2 membrane protein science, 3-5 bioreactors 6-8 and biosensors. 9,10 Cell-sized liposomes that encapsulate biomolecules and incorporate biological functions provide a versatile mimic of certain aspects of living cells, as exemplified by work showing RNA replication, [11][12][13] in vitro transcription and translation of gene networks, 6,14-16 and organization of cell division machinery in liposomes. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

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A recursive vesicle-based model protocell with a primitive model cell cycle

Cited by 194 publications

References 32 publications

Rapid growth and fusion of protocells in surface-adhered membrane networks

Rapid growth and fusion of protocells in surface-adhered membrane networks

The cellular membrane as a mediator for small molecule interaction with membrane proteins

Monodisperse Uni- and Multicompartment Liposomes

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