Autonomous model protocell division driven by molecular replication

Taylor, John; Eghtesadi, Seyed Ali; Points, Laurie J.; Liu, Tianbo; Cronin, Leroy

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00177-4

Cited by 52 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…Fundamental relations involving free energies and duplication probabilities, equation (28), duplication thresholds, equations (29) and (30), necessary work to be invested over the system by the protocol to trigger a duplication event, equation (31), dissipated work, equation (32) or the conditions for the perpetuation of the duplication cycle, equations (33) and (34) have been derived. These relations invoke the explicit energy landscape provided by the free energies and set the abstract conditions for a duplication process to be triggered and, eventually maintained.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamics of Duplication Thresholds in Synthetic Protocell Systems

Corominas-Murtra

2019

Life

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Understanding the thermodynamics of the duplication process is a fundamental step towards a comprehensive physical theory of biological systems. However, the immense complexity of real cells obscures the fundamental tensions between energy gradients and entropic contributions that underlie duplication. The study of synthetic, feasible systems reproducing part of the key ingredients of living entities but overcoming major sources of biological complexity is of great relevance to deepen the comprehension of the fundamental thermodynamic processes underlying life and its prevalence. In this paper an abstract—yet realistic—synthetic system made of small synthetic protocell aggregates is studied in detail. A fundamental relation between free energy and entropic gradients is derived for a general, non-equilibrium scenario, setting the thermodynamic conditions for the occurrence and prevalence of duplication phenomena. This relation sets explicitly how the energy gradients invested in creating and maintaining structural—and eventually, functional—elements of the system must always compensate the entropic gradients, whose contributions come from changes in the translational, configurational, and macrostate entropies, as well as from dissipation due to irreversible transitions. Work/energy relations are also derived, defining lower bounds on the energy required for the duplication event to take place. A specific example including real ternary emulsions is provided in order to grasp the orders of magnitude involved in the problem. It is found that the minimal work invested over the system to trigger a duplication event is around ~ 10 - 13 J , which results, in the case of duplication of all the vesicles contained in a liter of emulsion, in an amount of energy around ~ 1 kJ . Without aiming to describe a truly biological process of duplication, this theoretical contribution seeks to explicitly define and identify the key actors that participate in it.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamics of Duplication Thresholds in Synthetic Protocell Systems

Corominas-Murtra

2019

Life

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“…Although much work remains to be done, approaches based on the self-production of the individual dropletc omponents-through localised (bio)chemical reactions sucha st he transcription of DNA into phase-separating RNA, [126] for example-mightp rovide viable mechanismsr elating to the autonomous growth of all-aqueous droplets. [136,137] [136,137] …”

Section: Droplet Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adapted from ref. [137,148] Future experimentsw ill need to demonstrate such chemically active divisionp rocesses in all-aqueous droplets (ATPSs or coacervates) by exploiting localised chemical reactions. D) Chemically activedroplets undergo growth and division.…”

Section: Spontaneous Versusactive Droplet Fissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Synthetic Cells Based on Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation

2019

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Living cells have long been a source of inspiration for chemists. Their capacity of performing complex tasks relies on the spatiotemporal coordination of matter and energy fluxes. Recent years have witnessed growing interest in the bottom‐up construction of cell‐like models capable of reproducing aspects of such dynamic organisation. Liquid–liquid phase‐separation (LLPS) processes in water are increasingly recognised as representing a viable compartmentalisation strategy through which to produce dynamic synthetic cells. Herein, we highlight examples of the dynamic properties of LLPS used to assemble synthetic cells, including their biocatalytic activity, reversible condensation and dissolution, growth and division, and recent directions towards the design of higher‐order structures and behaviour.

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“…The division of synthetic cells, which resembles remotely from the reproduction of biological cells, can be achieved by external shear, [277] membrane growth, [17,279,281] sudden volume changes, [127,[282][283][284] and phase separation. [282][283][284] The sustained generation of membrane components can keep the membrane growing, dividing for cycles, but have little control over each division.…”

Section: Growth Budding Divisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interface Engineering in Multiphase Systems toward Synthetic Cells and Organelles: From Soft Matter Fundamentals to Biomedical Applications

et al. 2020

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products of evolution over billions of years. They are featured by multiple hierarchical compartments performing specialized and exquisitely coordinated functions. The biological and genetic complexity of cells and subcellular components make understanding their physicochemical foundation piece by piece challenging. [1-5] Moreover, the mystery of how the very first cell, protocell, comes into exist in early earth scenario is unveiled yet. [6] Motivated by understanding protocell and biological cells, synthetic cells are being constructed. Started form the simplest form, aqueous droplet enclosed by a bilayer structure, researchers adopt a bottom-up approach to study machineries of biological cells, and explore possible forms of the protocell in early world conditions. [7] Synthetic cells are important to bridge the gap between cellular organism and nonliving matter. They refer to synthetic compartments that encapsulate a wide variety of molecules and mimic one or multiple cellular functions. By segregation of contents in different compartments, synthetic cells are now engineered to perform multiple processes and functions, including segregating genetic information, genetic circuits, protein synthesis, metabolism, growth, reproduce, recognition, intercellular crosstalk, and adaptivity to surroundings. [8-17] In these simplified cell models, cellular processes and signal pathways are reconstituted, providing insights for cell biology and offering new opportunities for designing smart cell-like carriers of therapeutics. [18-26] In addition, the hypothesis of "RNA world" has inspired the investigation of synthetic compartments as protocells, in which nucleotide permeation, compartmental division, the synthesis of macromolecular polynucleotide, and the polymerization of ribonucleic acids (RNA) are explored. [7,27,28] The beginning of synthesizing cell-like structures starts from amphiphiles self-assembled at liquid/liquid interfaces to form enclosed compartments. [29-32] Recently, techniques such as microfluidics facilitate the fabrication of complex compartments with high-order hierarchy with excellent control. [33-36] Formulations of compartmentalization can be diverse, there are reviews mainly focused on one particular type of synthetic compartments, such as lipid vesicles (liposomes), [22,30,37,38] polymer vesicles (polymersomes), [39-43] lipid-polymer hybrid Synthetic cells have a major role in gaining insight into the complex biological processes of living cells; they also give rise to a range of emerging applications from gene delivery to enzymatic nanoreactors. Living cells rely on compartmentalization to orchestrate reaction networks for specialized and coordinated functions. Principally, the compartmentalization has been an essential engineering theme in constructing cell-mimicking systems. Here, efforts to engineer liquid-liquid interfaces of multiphase systems into membrane-bounded and membraneless compartments, which include lipid vesicles, polymer vesicles, colloidosomes, hybrids, and coacervate droplets,...

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Autonomous model protocell division driven by molecular replication

Cited by 52 publications

References 22 publications

Thermodynamics of Duplication Thresholds in Synthetic Protocell Systems

Thermodynamics of Duplication Thresholds in Synthetic Protocell Systems

Dynamic Synthetic Cells Based on Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation

Interface Engineering in Multiphase Systems toward Synthetic Cells and Organelles: From Soft Matter Fundamentals to Biomedical Applications

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