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Gonzales DT, Suraritdechachai S, Tang TYD. Compartmentalized Cell-Free Expression Systems for Building Synthetic Cells. ADVANCES IN BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING/BIOTECHNOLOGY 2023; 186:77-101. [PMID: 37306700 DOI: 10.1007/10_2023_221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
One of the grand challenges in bottom-up synthetic biology is the design and construction of synthetic cellular systems. One strategy toward this goal is the systematic reconstitution of biological processes using purified or non-living molecular components to recreate specific cellular functions such as metabolism, intercellular communication, signal transduction, and growth and division. Cell-free expression systems (CFES) are in vitro reconstitutions of the transcription and translation machinery found in cells and are a key technology for bottom-up synthetic biology. The open and simplified reaction environment of CFES has helped researchers discover fundamental concepts in the molecular biology of the cell. In recent decades, there has been a drive to encapsulate CFES reactions into cell-like compartments with the aim of building synthetic cells and multicellular systems. In this chapter, we discuss recent progress in compartmentalizing CFES to build simple and minimal models of biological processes that can help provide a better understanding of the process of self-assembly in molecularly complex systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- David T Gonzales
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | | | - T -Y Dora Tang
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
- Physics of Life, Cluster of Excellence, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
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2
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Takahashi H, Ogawa A. Preparation of a Millimeter-Sized Supergiant Liposome That Allows for Efficient, Eukaryotic Cell-Free Translation in the Interior by Spontaneous Emulsion Transfer. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:1608-1614. [PMID: 32559381 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We sought to prepare millimeter-sized supergiant unilamellar vesicles (SGUVs) by spontaneous emulsion transfer for efficient, eukaryotic cell-free translation in the interior. Although the conventional protocols require that a considerably high concentration of sucrose be encapsulated into the SGUVs for their efficient formation, such high amounts of sucrose severely inhibited cell-free translation based on wheat germ extract (WGE). We thus optimized the preparation conditions to permit SGUV formation at a much lower concentration of sucrose that has almost no effect on WGE translation. Under the optimized conditions, we successfully prepared WGE translation system-encapsulating SGUVs that allow for protein synthesis with a high efficiency comparable to that outside a liposome. The optimization also resulted in a high rate of successful SGUV formation (>90%) and a decent stability of the formed SGUVs (>60 min). These SGUVs are expected to serve as research tools in cell-free synthetic biology and as foundations for artificial cell-based biosensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hajime Takahashi
- Proteo-Science Center, Ehime University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-8577, Japan
| | - Atsushi Ogawa
- Proteo-Science Center, Ehime University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-8577, Japan
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Allen-Benton M, Findlay HE, Booth PJ. Probing membrane protein properties using droplet interface bilayers. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2019; 244:709-720. [PMID: 31053046 PMCID: PMC6552395 DOI: 10.1177/1535370219847939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
IMPACT STATEMENT The paper presents a comprehensive review of integral membrane protein studies utilizing droplet interface bilayers. Droplet interface bilayers are a novel method of constructing artificial lipid bilayers with enhanced stability and physicochemical complexity compared to existing methods. Their unique morphology also suggests applications in the construction of synthetic biological systems and protocells. As well as serving as a guide to in vitro membrane protein functional studies using droplet interface bilayers in the literature to date, a novel in vitro study of a flippase protein in a droplet interface bilayer is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Paula J Booth
- Department of Chemistry, King’s College London,
London SE1 1DB, UK
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Trantidou T, Friddin MS, Salehi-Reyhani A, Ces O, Elani Y. Droplet microfluidics for the construction of compartmentalised model membranes. LAB ON A CHIP 2018; 18:2488-2509. [PMID: 30066008 DOI: 10.1039/c8lc00028j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The design of membrane-based constructs with multiple compartments is of increasing importance given their potential applications as microreactors, as artificial cells in synthetic-biology, as simplified cell models, and as drug delivery vehicles. The emergence of droplet microfluidics as a tool for their construction has allowed rapid scale-up in generation throughput, scale-down of size, and control over gross membrane architecture. This is true on several levels: size, level of compartmentalisation and connectivity of compartments can all be programmed to various degrees. This tutorial review explains and explores the reasons behind this. We discuss microfluidic strategies for the generation of a family of compartmentalised systems that have lipid membranes as the basic structural motifs, where droplets are either the fundamental building blocks, or are precursors to the membrane-bound compartments. We examine the key properties associated with these systems (including stability, yield, encapsulation efficiency), discuss relevant device fabrication technologies, and outline the technical challenges. In doing so, we critically review the state-of-play in this rapidly advancing field.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Trantidou
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
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Booth MJ, Restrepo Schild V, Downs FG, Bayley H. Functional aqueous droplet networks. MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS 2018; 13:1658-1691. [PMID: 28766622 DOI: 10.1039/c7mb00192d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Droplet interface bilayers (DIBs), comprising individual lipid bilayers between pairs of aqueous droplets in an oil, are proving to be a useful tool for studying membrane proteins. Recently, attention has turned to the elaboration of networks of aqueous droplets, connected through functionalized interface bilayers, with collective properties unachievable in droplet pairs. Small 2D collections of droplets have been formed into soft biodevices, which can act as electronic components, light-sensors and batteries. A substantial breakthrough has been the development of a droplet printer, which can create patterned 3D droplet networks of hundreds to thousands of connected droplets. The 3D networks can change shape, or carry electrical signals through defined pathways, or express proteins in response to patterned illumination. We envisage using functional 3D droplet networks as autonomous synthetic tissues or coupling them with cells to repair or enhance the properties of living tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Booth
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK.
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Elfaramawy MA, Fujii S, Uyeda A, Osaki T, Takeuchi S, Kato Y, Watanabe H, Matsuura T. Quantitative analysis of cell-free synthesized membrane proteins at the stabilized droplet interface bilayer. Chem Commun (Camb) 2018; 54:12226-12229. [DOI: 10.1039/c8cc06804f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Quantification of membrane proteins supplied by cell-free synthesis was achieved by using an easy-to-use droplet interface bilayer chamber model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maie A. Elfaramawy
- Department of Biotechnology
- Division of Advance Science and Biotechnology
- Graduate School of Engineering
- Osaka University
- Suita
| | - Satoshi Fujii
- Artificial Cell Membrane Systems Group
- Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology
- 213-0012 Kawasaki
- Japan
| | - Atsuko Uyeda
- Department of Biotechnology
- Division of Advance Science and Biotechnology
- Graduate School of Engineering
- Osaka University
- Suita
| | - Toshihisa Osaki
- Artificial Cell Membrane Systems Group
- Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology
- 213-0012 Kawasaki
- Japan
- Institute of Industrial Science
| | - Shoji Takeuchi
- Artificial Cell Membrane Systems Group
- Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology
- 213-0012 Kawasaki
- Japan
- Institute of Industrial Science
| | - Yasuhiko Kato
- Department of Biotechnology
- Division of Advance Science and Biotechnology
- Graduate School of Engineering
- Osaka University
- Suita
| | - Hajime Watanabe
- Department of Biotechnology
- Division of Advance Science and Biotechnology
- Graduate School of Engineering
- Osaka University
- Suita
| | - Tomoaki Matsuura
- Department of Biotechnology
- Division of Advance Science and Biotechnology
- Graduate School of Engineering
- Osaka University
- Suita
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Construction of membrane-bound artificial cells using microfluidics: a new frontier in bottom-up synthetic biology. Biochem Soc Trans 2017; 44:723-30. [PMID: 27284034 PMCID: PMC4900754 DOI: 10.1042/bst20160052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The quest to construct artificial cells from the bottom-up using simple building blocks has received much attention over recent decades and is one of the grand challenges in synthetic biology. Cell mimics that are encapsulated by lipid membranes are a particularly powerful class of artificial cells due to their biocompatibility and the ability to reconstitute biological machinery within them. One of the key obstacles in the field centres on the following: how can membrane-based artificial cells be generated in a controlled way and in high-throughput? In particular, how can they be constructed to have precisely defined parameters including size, biomolecular composition and spatial organization? Microfluidic generation strategies have proved instrumental in addressing these questions. This article will outline some of the major principles underpinning membrane-based artificial cells and their construction using microfluidics, and will detail some recent landmarks that have been achieved.
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Trantidou T, Friddin M, Elani Y, Brooks NJ, Law RV, Seddon JM, Ces O. Engineering Compartmentalized Biomimetic Micro- and Nanocontainers. ACS NANO 2017; 11:6549-6565. [PMID: 28658575 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b03245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 137] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Compartmentalization of biological content and function is a key architectural feature in biology, where membrane bound micro- and nanocompartments are used for performing a host of highly specialized and tightly regulated biological functions. The benefit of compartmentalization as a design principle is behind its ubiquity in cells and has led to it being a central engineering theme in construction of artificial cell-like systems. In this review, we discuss the attractions of designing compartmentalized membrane-bound constructs and review a range of biomimetic membrane architectures that span length scales, focusing on lipid-based structures but also addressing polymer-based and hybrid approaches. These include nested vesicles, multicompartment vesicles, large-scale vesicle networks, as well as droplet interface bilayers, and double-emulsion multiphase systems (multisomes). We outline key examples of how such structures have been functionalized with biological and synthetic machinery, for example, to manufacture and deliver drugs and metabolic compounds, to replicate intracellular signaling cascades, and to demonstrate collective behaviors as minimal tissue constructs. Particular emphasis is placed on the applications of these architectures and the state-of-the-art microfluidic engineering required to fabricate, functionalize, and precisely assemble them. Finally, we outline the future directions of these technologies and highlight how they could be applied to engineer the next generation of cell models, therapeutic agents, and microreactors, together with the diverse applications in the emerging field of bottom-up synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana Trantidou
- Department of Chemistry and ‡Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Friddin
- Department of Chemistry and ‡Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Yuval Elani
- Department of Chemistry and ‡Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas J Brooks
- Department of Chemistry and ‡Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Robert V Law
- Department of Chemistry and ‡Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - John M Seddon
- Department of Chemistry and ‡Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Oscar Ces
- Department of Chemistry and ‡Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
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Barlow NE, Smpokou E, Friddin MS, Macey R, Gould IR, Turnbull C, Flemming AJ, Brooks NJ, Ces O, Barter LMC. Engineering plant membranes using droplet interface bilayers. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2017; 11:024107. [PMID: 28396711 PMCID: PMC5367087 DOI: 10.1063/1.4979045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/08/2017] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Droplet interface bilayers (DIBs) have become widely recognised as a robust platform for constructing model membranes and are emerging as a key technology for the bottom-up assembly of synthetic cell-like and tissue-like structures. DIBs are formed when lipid-monolayer coated water droplets are brought together inside a well of oil, which is excluded from the interface as the DIB forms. The unique features of the system, compared to traditional approaches (e.g., supported lipid bilayers, black lipid membranes, and liposomes), is the ability to engineer multi-layered bilayer networks by connecting multiple droplets together in 3D, and the capability to impart bilayer asymmetry freely within these droplet architectures by supplying droplets with different lipids. Yet despite these achievements, one potential limitation of the technology is that DIBs formed from biologically relevant components have not been well studied. This could limit the reach of the platform to biological systems where bilayer composition and asymmetry are understood to play a key role. Herein, we address this issue by reporting the assembly of asymmetric DIBs designed to replicate the plasma membrane compositions of three different plant species; Arabidopsis thaliana, tobacco, and oats, by engineering vesicles with different amounts of plant phospholipids, sterols and cerebrosides for the first time. We show that vesicles made from our plant lipid formulations are stable and can be used to assemble asymmetric plant DIBs. We verify this using a bilayer permeation assay, from which we extract values for absolute effective bilayer permeation and bilayer stability. Our results confirm that stable DIBs can be assembled from our plant membrane mimics and could lead to new approaches for assembling model systems to study membrane translocation and to screen new agrochemicals in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - C Turnbull
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London , Sir Alexander Fleming Building, South Kensington SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
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10
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de Bruin A, Friddin MS, Elani Y, Brooks NJ, Law R, Seddon JM, Ces O. A transparent 3D printed device for assembling droplet hydrogel bilayers (DHBs). RSC Adv 2017. [DOI: 10.1039/c7ra09406j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We report a new approach for assembling droplet hydrogel bilayers (DHBs) using a transparent 3D printed device.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mark S. Friddin
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | - Yuval Elani
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | - Nicholas J. Brooks
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | - Robert V. Law
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | - John M. Seddon
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | - Oscar Ces
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
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11
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Elani Y, Solvas XCI, Edel JB, Law RV, Ces O. Microfluidic generation of encapsulated droplet interface bilayer networks (multisomes) and their use as cell-like reactors. Chem Commun (Camb) 2016; 52:5961-4. [DOI: 10.1039/c6cc01434h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Using a microfluidic device to incorporate bilayer networks inside droplets, we generate compartmentalised cell-like microreactors based on lipid membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuval Elani
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London SW7 2AZ
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | | | - Joshua B. Edel
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London SW7 2AZ
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | - Robert V. Law
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London SW7 2AZ
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
| | - Oscar Ces
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- London SW7 2AZ
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
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12
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Schlicht B, Zagnoni M. Droplet-interface-bilayer assays in microfluidic passive networks. Sci Rep 2015; 5:9951. [PMID: 25909686 PMCID: PMC4408985 DOI: 10.1038/srep09951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2015] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Basic biophysical studies and pharmacological processes can be investigated by mimicking the intracellular and extracellular environments across an artificial cell membrane construct. The ability to reproduce in vitro simplified scenarios found in live cell membranes in an automated manner has great potential for a variety of synthetic biology and compound screening applications. Here, we present a fully integrated microfluidic system for the production of artificial lipid bilayers based on the miniaturisation of droplet-interface-bilayer (DIB) techniques. The platform uses a microfluidic design that enables the controlled positioning and storage of phospholipid-stabilized water-in-oil droplets, leading successfully to the scalable and automated formation of arrays of DIBs to mimic cell membrane processes. To ensure robustness of operation, we have investigated how lipid concentration, immiscible phase flow velocities and the device geometrical parameters affect the system performance. Finally, we produced proof-of-concept data showing that diffusive transport of molecules and ions across on-chip DIBs can be studied and quantified using fluorescence-based assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bárbara Schlicht
- Centre for Microsystems and Photonics, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XW, UK
| | - Michele Zagnoni
- Centre for Microsystems and Photonics, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XW, UK
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13
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Elani Y, Law RV, Ces O. Protein synthesis in artificial cells: using compartmentalisation for spatial organisation in vesicle bioreactors. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2015; 17:15534-7. [DOI: 10.1039/c4cp05933f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Spatially segregated in vitro protein expression in a vesicle-based artificial cell, with different proteins synthesised in defined vesicle regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuval Elani
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
- Imperial College London
| | - Robert V. Law
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
- Imperial College London
| | - Oscar Ces
- Department of Chemistry
- Imperial College London
- UK
- Institute of Chemical Biology
- Imperial College London
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Friddin MS, Smithers NP, Beaugrand M, Marcotte I, Williamson PTF, Morgan H, de Planque MRR. Single-channel electrophysiology of cell-free expressed ion channels by direct incorporation in lipid bilayers. Analyst 2013; 138:7294-8. [DOI: 10.1039/c3an01540h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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