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Perin GB, Moreno S, Zhou Y, Günther M, Boye S, Voit B, Felisberti MI, Appelhans D. Construction of Membraneless and Multicompartmentalized Coacervate Protocells Controlling a Cell Metabolism-like Cascade Reaction. Biomacromolecules 2023; 24:5807-5822. [PMID: 37984848 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, there has been growing attention to designing synthetic protocells, capable of mimicking micrometric and multicompartmental structures and highly complex physicochemical and biological processes with spatiotemporal control. Controlling metabolism-like cascade reactions in coacervate protocells is still challenging since signal transduction has to be involved in sequential and parallelized actions mediated by a pH change. Herein, we report the hierarchical construction of membraneless and multicompartmentalized protocells composed of (i) a cytosol-like scaffold based on complex coacervate droplets stable under flow conditions, (ii) enzyme-active artificial organelles and a substrate nanoreservoir capable of triggering a cascade reaction between them in response to a pH increase, and (iii) a signal transduction component based on the urease enzyme capable of the conversion of an exogenous biological fuel (urea) into an endogenous signal (ammonia and pH increase). Overall, this strategy allows a synergistic communication between their components within the membraneless and multicompartment protocells and, thus, metabolism-like enzymatic cascade reactions. This signal communication is transmitted through a scaffold protocell from an "inactive state" (nonfluorescent protocell) to an "active state" (fluorescent protocell capable of consuming stored metabolites).
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni B Perin
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, 13083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Silvia Moreno
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Yang Zhou
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
- Organic Chemistry of Polymers, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany
| | - Markus Günther
- Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany
| | - Susanne Boye
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Brigitte Voit
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
- Organic Chemistry of Polymers, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany
| | - Maria I Felisberti
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, 13083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Dietmar Appelhans
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straße 6, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
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Patki GM, Rajamani S. Nonenzymatic RNA replication in a mixture of 'spent' nucleotides. FEBS Lett 2023; 597:3125-3134. [PMID: 38058189 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.14785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Nonenzymatic template-directed replication would have been affected by co-solutes in a heterogeneous prebiotic soup due to lack of enzymatic machinery. Unlike in contemporary biology, these reactions use chemically activated nucleotides, which undergo rapid hydrolysis forming nucleoside monophosphates ('spent' monomers). These co-solutes cannot extend the primer but continue to base pair with the template, thereby interfering with replication. We, therefore, aimed to understand how a mixture of 'spent' ribonucleotides would affect nonenzymatic replication. We observed the inhibition of replication in the mixture, wherein the predominant contribution came from the cognate Watson-Crick monomer, showing potential sequence dependence. Our study highlights how nonenzymatic RNA replication would have been directly affected by co-solutes, with ramifications for the emergence of functional polymers in an RNA World.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gauri M Patki
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Sudha Rajamani
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, Maharashtra, India
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