Spontaneous Membranization in a Silk-Based Coacervate Protocell Model. 2022

Zhuping Yin, and Liangfei Tian, and Avinash J Patil, and Mei Li, and Stephen Mann
Centre for Protolife Research and Centre for Organized Matter Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.

Molecularly crowded coacervate micro-droplets are useful protocell constructs but the absence of a physical membrane limits their application as cytomimetic models. Auxiliary surface-active agents have been harnessed to stabilize the coacervate droplets by irreversible shell formation but endogenous processes of reversible membranization have received minimal attention. Herein, we describe a dynamic alginate/silk coacervate-based protocell model in which membrane-less droplets are reversibly reconfigured and inflated into semipermeable coacervate vesicles by spontaneous self-organization of amphiphilic silk polymers at the droplet surface under non-neutral charge conditions in the absence of auxiliary agents. We show that membranization can be reversibly controlled endogenously by programming the pH within the protocells using an antagonistic enzyme system such that structural reconfigurations in the protocell microstructure are coupled to the trafficking of water-soluble solutes. Our results open new perspectives in the design of hybrid protocell models with dynamical structural properties.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D047011 Silk A continuous protein fiber consisting primarily of FIBROINS. It is synthesized by a variety of INSECTS and ARACHNIDS.
D058045 Artificial Cells Chemically synthesized structures which functionally resemble natural cells. Artificial Cell,Artificial Organelles,Protocells,Synthetic Cells,Synthetic Organelles,Artificial Organelle,Cell, Artificial,Cell, Synthetic,Cells, Artificial,Cells, Synthetic,Organelle, Artificial,Organelle, Synthetic,Organelles, Artificial,Organelles, Synthetic,Protocell,Synthetic Cell,Synthetic Organelle

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