Recent advances in compartmentalized synthetic architectures as drug carriers, cell mimics and artificial organelles

York-Durán, María José; Godoy-Gallardo, María; Labay, Cédric; Urquhart, Andrew J.; Andresen, Thomas Lars; Hosta‐Rigau, Leticia

doi:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.01.014

Cited by 80 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…While structured fluids, such as molecular liquid crystals, have long been used to organize colloids at defects and interfaces (20,21,(36)(37)(38)(39), here, we exploit colloid affinity to the liquid constituents to change the energetically favored locations within the liquid-crystal bulk. This interplay of adhesion, interfacial tension, and elasticity potentially has implications in regulation of spatial organization in subcellular liquid droplets beyond the spindle, in primitive and synthetic cells, and other macromolecular droplets such as coacervates (25,(40)(41)(42). In the future, this system can be extended to elucidate how colloid adhesion and shape, together with fluid structure, direct spatiotemporal organization in structured fluids, which may inform the design of novel structured, soft materials.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-organizing motors divide active liquid droplets

Weirich

Dasbiswas

Witten

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The cytoskeleton is a collection of protein assemblies that dynamically impose spatial structure in cells and coordinate processes such as cell division and mechanical regulation. Biopolymer filaments, cross-linking proteins, and enzymatically active motor proteins collectively self-organize into various precise cytoskeletal assemblies critical for specific biological functions. An outstanding question is how the precise spatial organization arises from the component macromolecules. We develop a system to investigate simple physical mechanisms of self-organization in biological assemblies. Using a minimal set of purified proteins, we create droplets of cross-linked biopolymer filaments. Through the addition of enzymatically active motor proteins, we construct composite assemblies, evocative of cellular structures such as spindles, where the inherent anisotropy drives motor self-organization, droplet deformation, and division into two droplets. These results suggest that simple physical principles underlie self-organization in complex biological assemblies and inform bioinspired materials design.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-organizing motors divide active liquid droplets

Weirich

Dasbiswas

Witten

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…[4][5][6] A number of suitable candidates already exist such as water-in-oil droplets, [7] droplet interface bilayers (DIBs), [8] membrane-free aqueous droplets, [9] polymersomes, [10] colloidosomes, [11,12] proteinosomes, [13] and liposomes. Therefore, establishing a suitable compartment platform is essential for the construction of an artificial cell.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic Handling and Analysis of Giant Vesicles for Use as Artificial Cells: A Review

Robinson

2019

Adv. Biosys.

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One of the goals of synthetic biology is the bottom‐up construction of an artificial cell, the successful realization of which could shed light on how cellular life emerged and could also be a useful tool for studying the function of modern cells. Using liposomes as biomimetic containers is particularly promising because lipid membranes are biocompatible and much of the required machinery can be reconstituted within them. Giant lipid vesicles have been used extensively in other fields such as biophysics and drug discovery, but their use as artificial cells has only recently seen an increase. Despite the prevalence of giant vesicles, many experiments remain challenging or impossible due to their delicate nature compared to biological cells. This review aims to highlight the effectiveness of microfluidic technologies in handling and analyzing giant vesicles. The advantages and disadvantages of different microfluidic approaches and what new insights can be gained from various applications are introduced. Finally, future directions are discussed in which the unique combination of microfluidics and giant lipid vesicles can push forward the bottom‐up construction of artificial cells.

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“…While structured fluids, such as molecular liquid crystals, have long been used to organize colloids at defects and interfaces (20,21,(35)(36)(37)(38), here we exploit colloid affinity to the liquid constituents to change the energetically favored locations within the liquid crystal bulk. This interplay of adhesion, interfacial tension, and elasticity potentially has implications in regulation of spatial organization in sub-cellular liquid droplets beyond the spindle, in primitive and synthetic cells, and other macromolecular droplets such as coacervates (25,(39)(40)(41). Intriguingly, we find these processes, including center finding, do not rely on enzymatic activity in the droplet or colloid, but rather that the colloid strongly interacts with the droplet.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Self-organizing motors divide active liquid droplets

Weirich

Dasbiswas

Witten

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The cytoskeleton is a collection of protein assemblies that dynamically impose spatial structure in cells and coordinate processes such as cell division and mechanical regulation. Biopolymer filaments, cross-linking proteins, and enzymatically active motor proteins collectively self-organize into various precise cytoskeletal assemblies critical for specific biological functions. An outstanding question is how the precise spatial organization arises from the component macromolecules. We develop a new system to investigate simple physical mechanisms of selforganization in biological assemblies. Using a minimal set of purified proteins, we create droplets of cross-linked biopolymer filaments. Through the addition of enzymatically active motor proteins we construct composite assemblies, evocative of cellular structures such as spindles, where the inherent anisotropy drives motor self-organization and droplet deformation. These results suggest that simple physical principles underlie the self-organization in complex biological assemblies and inform bio-inspired materials design.

show abstract

Recent advances in compartmentalized synthetic architectures as drug carriers, cell mimics and artificial organelles

Cited by 80 publications

References 121 publications

Self-organizing motors divide active liquid droplets

Self-organizing motors divide active liquid droplets

Microfluidic Handling and Analysis of Giant Vesicles for Use as Artificial Cells: A Review

Self-organizing motors divide active liquid droplets

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