Population-Level Membrane Diversity Triggers Growth and Division of Protocells

Toparlak, Ö. Duhan; Wang, Anna; Mansy, Sheref S.

doi:10.1021/jacsau.0c00079

Cited by 21 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(138 reference statements)

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“…Such a process was extended to shorter, prebiotically relevant fatty acids, and cycles of growth and division were achieved by iterative additions of vesicles. [94] This study exemplifies a possible pathway to spontaneous vesicle growth and division in populations of different fatty acid vesicles, supporting the idea that mixtures of lipids could have helped to assemble dividing protocells on the early earth.…”

Section: Growth and Divisionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…[93] In a notable recent example by Mansy and co-workers, growth of multilamellar vesicle was demonstrated by the addition of LUVs of different lipid composition. [94] Importantly, the addition of oleate LUVs to myristoleate multilamellar vesicles resulted in spontaneous division, which was attributed to differences in the lipid characteristics. Such a process was extended to shorter, prebiotically relevant fatty acids, and cycles of growth and division were achieved by iterative additions of vesicles.…”

Section: Growth and Divisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fatty Acid Vesicles and Coacervates as Model Prebiotic Protocells

Martin

Douliez

2021

ChemSystemsChem

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The prebiotic organization of chemicals into compartmentalized ensembles is an essential step to understand the transition from inert molecules to living matter. Compartmentalization is indeed a central property of living systems. Fatty acids represent the simplest prebiotic amphiphiles capable of selfassembling into membrane-bound vesicles, and have therefore emerged as valuable molecules to create models of protocellular compartments. Here, the main experimental findings supporting this idea are reviewed, together with approaches to increase the stability of fatty acid vesicles in adverse pH, salt, or temperature conditions. Recent studies on the self-assembly of fatty acids into membrane-free coacervate microdroplets are then discussed, providing a promising new paradigm for prebiotic compartmentalization. Lastly, it is also argued that the unique possibility of cycling between fatty acid vesicles and coacervates paves the way to an exciting new hypothesis for the emergence of the first living protocells.

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Section: Growth and Divisionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Growth and Divisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatty Acid Vesicles and Coacervates as Model Prebiotic Protocells

Martin

Douliez

2021

ChemSystemsChem

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“…They would give rise to aggregation and membrane disruption, as well as to the formation of primitive membrane pores, thus enhancing selective molecular exchange between the first cell-like compartments and their environment [1,2]. The most commonly accepted model of a prebiotic membrane is the one formed by fatty acids, mainly because of their high permeability and their ability to grow by the integration of new fatty acids [3][4][5]. However, fatty acid membranes may also contain other compounds present in prebiotic conditions, improving their stability and permeability [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Membrane Structure Obtained in an Experimental Evolution Process

Dávila

Mayer

2022

Life

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Recently, an evolution experiment was carried out in a cyclic process, which involved periodic vesicle formation in combination with peptide and vesicle selection. As an outcome, an octapeptide (KSPFPFAA) was identified which rapidly integrated into the vesicle membrane and, according to its significant accumulation, is obviously connected to a particular advantage of the corresponding functionalized vesicle. Here we report a molecular dynamics study of the structural details of the functionalized vesicle membrane, which was a product of this evolution process and is connected to several survival mechanisms. In order to elucidate the particular advantage of this structure, we performed all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to examine structural changes and interactions of the peptide (KSPFPFAA) with the given octadecanoic acid/octadecylamine (1:1) bilayer under acidic conditions. The calculations clearly demonstrate the specific interactions between the peptide and the membrane and reveal the mechanisms leading to the improved vesicle survival.

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“…The exterior concentration can be temporarily higher than C * if there is a sudden addition of lipid to the external medium. It is known that sudden addition of lipid micelles to vesicles causes vesicle division [32,36,37]. On the other hand, if the external concentration remains at C * , the internal concentration can become higher than C * if there is lipid synthesis inside the vesicle.…”

Section: Cell Growth and Divisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Is a Reaction Network a Metabolism? Criteria for Simple Metabolisms That Support Growth and Division of Protocells

Higgs

2021

Life

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With the aim of better understanding the nature of metabolism in the first cells and the relationship between the origin of life and the origin of metabolism, we propose three criteria that a chemical reaction system must satisfy in order to constitute a metabolism that would be capable of sustaining growth and division of a protocell. (1) Biomolecules produced by the reaction system must be maintained at high concentration inside the cell while they remain at low or zero concentration outside. (2) The total solute concentration inside the cell must be higher than outside, so there is a positive osmotic pressure that drives cell growth. (3) The metabolic rate (i.e., the rate of mass throughput) must be higher inside the cell than outside. We give examples of small-molecule reaction systems that satisfy these criteria, and others which do not, firstly considering fixed-volume compartments, and secondly, lipid vesicles that can grow and divide. If the criteria are satisfied, and if a supply of lipid is available outside the cell, then continued growth of membrane surface area occurs alongside the increase in volume of the cell. If the metabolism synthesizes more lipid inside the cell, then the membrane surface area can increase proportionately faster than the cell volume, in which case cell division is possible. The three criteria can be satisfied if the reaction system is bistable, because different concentrations can exist inside and out while the rate constants of all the reactions are the same. If the reaction system is monostable, the criteria can only be satisfied if there is a reason why the rate constants are different inside and out (for example, the decay rates of biomolecules are faster outside, or the formation rates of biomolecules are slower outside). If this difference between inside and outside does not exist, a monostable reaction system cannot sustain cell growth and division. We show that a reaction system for template-directed RNA polymerization can satisfy the requirements for a metabolism, even if the small-molecule reactions that make the single nucleotides do not.

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Population-Level Membrane Diversity Triggers Growth and Division of Protocells

Cited by 21 publications

References 64 publications

Fatty Acid Vesicles and Coacervates as Model Prebiotic Protocells

Fatty Acid Vesicles and Coacervates as Model Prebiotic Protocells

Membrane Structure Obtained in an Experimental Evolution Process

When Is a Reaction Network a Metabolism? Criteria for Simple Metabolisms That Support Growth and Division of Protocells

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