Connecting primitive phase separation to biotechnology, synthetic biology, and engineering

Jia, Tony Z.; Wang, Po Hsiang; Niwa, Tatsuya; Mamajanov, Irena

doi:10.1007/s12038-021-00204-z

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 311 publications

(167 reference statements)

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“…[121][122][123] Membraneless droplets generated by liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), [114,124] such as coacervates [125] or aqueous two-phase systems, [126] have also shown the ability to segregate primitive biomolecules such as RNA or peptides. [127][128][129][130] While such systems can be cyclically assembled and disassembled (e.g., through modulation of environmental conditions such as pH, salt, or temperature [131][132][133] ), depending on the composition, membraneless droplets may have been more "leaky" than vesicles to encapsulated components. [116] Other primitive compartments, such as mineral pores, are very stable on long timescales and have been shown to promote polymerization of primitive genetic materials such as RNA, [134,135] but their structure is governed by its geochemical composition, and thus it is difficult to envision any dynamic structural changes on the short term.…”

Section: A Potential Material-based Panspermia Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 145,146 ] At the OoL, such membraneless droplets have been proposed as primitive compartment systems in which internal and external components exchange across the membraneless boundary with lower energetic cost compared with a membrane. [ 130 ] In particular, when the external components have chemical affinity and compatibility (charge, polarity, etc.) for the interior of the LLPS, the material exchange process could lead to the spontaneous multiple orders‐of‐magnitude increase in concentration of DNA [ 132,147 ] or of magnesium ions, nucleotides or RNA within the droplet.…”

Section: A Potential Material‐based Panspermia Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A material‐based panspermia hypothesis: The potential of polymer gels and membraneless droplets

et al. 2022

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The Panspermia hypothesis posits that either life's building blocks (molecular Panspermia) or life itself (organism‐based Panspermia) may have been interplanetarily transferred to facilitate the origins of life (OoL) on a given planet, complementing several current OoL frameworks. Although many spaceflight experiments were performed in the past to test for potential terrestrial organisms as Panspermia seeds, it is uncertain whether such organisms will likely “seed” a new planet even if they are able to survive spaceflight. Therefore, rather than using organisms, using abiotic chemicals as seeds has been proposed as part of the molecular Panspermia hypothesis. Here, as an extension of this hypothesis, we introduce and review the plausibility of a polymeric material‐based Panspermia seed (M‐BPS) as a theoretical concept, where the type of polymeric material that can function as a M‐BPS must be able to: (1) survive spaceflight and (2) “function”, i.e., contingently drive chemical evolution toward some form of abiogenesis once arriving on a foreign planet. We use polymeric gels as a model example of a potential M‐BPS. Polymeric gels that can be prebiotically synthesized on one planet (such as polyester gels) could be transferred to another planet via meteoritic transfer, where upon landing on a liquid bearing planet, can assemble into structures containing cellular‐like characteristics and functionalities. Such features presupposed that these gels can assemble into compartments through phase separation to accomplish relevant functions such as encapsulation of primitive metabolic, genetic and catalytic materials, exchange of these materials, motion, coalescence, and evolution. All of these functions can result in the gels' capability to alter local geochemical niches on other planets, thereby allowing chemical evolution to lead to OoL events.

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Section: A Potential Material-based Panspermia Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Potential Material‐based Panspermia Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

A material‐based panspermia hypothesis: The potential of polymer gels and membraneless droplets

et al. 2022

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“…Similar schemes can be used for controlled release 11 or water remediation. 12 This process has also been associated with the origin of life. 13 In this direction, it has been increasingly recognized that restricted liquid−liquid phase separation determines the formation and stability of a number of membraneless structures (organelles) governing essential cellular functions.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…It can be used to enhance reaction rates by increasing the concentration of reactants (microreactors) and sequestration/isolation of harmful species. Similar schemes can be used for controlled release or water remediation . This process has also been associated with the origin of life .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction-Limited Aggregation: Fine-Tuning the Size of pNIPAM Particles by Association with Hydrophobic Ions

et al. 2023

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We have investigated the formation of stable clusters of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) chains in water at temperatures above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), induced by the presence of sodium tetraphenylborate, NaPh4B. The hydrophobic Ph4B– ions interact strongly with the pNIPAM chains, providing them with a net effective negative charge, which leads to the stabilization of pNIPAM clusters for temperatures above the LCST, with a mean cluster size that depends non-monotonically on salt concentration. Combining experiments with physical modeling at the mesoscopic level and atomistic molecular dynamic simulations, we show that this effect is caused by the interplay between the hydrophobic attraction between pNIPAM chains and the electrostatic repulsion induced by the associated Ph4B– ions. These results provide insight on the significance of weak associative anion–polymer interaction driven by hydrophobic interaction and how this anionic binding can prevent macroscopic phase separation. Harvesting the competition between attractive hydrophobic and repulsive electrostatic interaction opens avenues for the dynamic control of the formation of well-calibrated polymer microparticles.

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“…He postulated that after other nutrients became rare, the colloidal particles would start to develop photosynthesis and absorb the available resources through fermentation. These particles, known as “coacervates”, are organic-rich droplets produced by LLPS [ 3 ]. Despite such great proposals for the origin of the prebiotic compartmentalization with the coacervates, the membranelles organelles in living cells have very recently been discovered compared with the membrane organelles [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomolecular Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation for Biotechnology

Shil

Tsuruta

Kawauchi

et al. 2023

BioTech

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The liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biomolecules induces condensed assemblies called liquid droplets or membrane-less organelles. In contrast to organelles with lipid membrane barriers, the liquid droplets induced by LLPS do not have distinct barriers (lipid bilayer). Biomolecular LLPS in cells has attracted considerable attention in broad research fields from cellular biology to soft matter physics. The physical and chemical properties of LLPS exert a variety of functions in living cells: activating and deactivating biomolecules involving enzymes; controlling the localization, condensation, and concentration of biomolecules; the filtration and purification of biomolecules; and sensing environmental factors for fast, adaptive, and reversible responses. The versatility of LLPS plays an essential role in various biological processes, such as controlling the central dogma and the onset mechanism of pathological diseases. Moreover, biomolecular LLPS could be critical for developing new biotechnologies such as the condensation, purification, and activation of a series of biomolecules. In this review article, we introduce some fundamental aspects and recent progress of biomolecular LLPS in living cells and test tubes. Then, we discuss applications of biomolecular LLPS toward biotechnologies.

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Connecting primitive phase separation to biotechnology, synthetic biology, and engineering

Cited by 18 publications

References 311 publications

A material‐based panspermia hypothesis: The potential of polymer gels and membraneless droplets

A material‐based panspermia hypothesis: The potential of polymer gels and membraneless droplets

Interaction-Limited Aggregation: Fine-Tuning the Size of pNIPAM Particles by Association with Hydrophobic Ions

Biomolecular Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation for Biotechnology

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