Interfacial assembly of protein-polymer nano-conjugates into stimulus-responsive biomimetic protocells

The mechanism of spontaneous assembly of microscale compartments is a central question for the origin of life, and has technological repercussions in diverse areas such as materials science, catalysis, biotechnology and biomedicine. Such compartments need to be semi-permeable, structurally robust an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature communications 2013, Vol.4 (1), p.2239-2239, Article 2239
Main Authors:	Huang, Xin, Li, Mei, Green, David C, Williams, David S, Patil, Avinash J, Mann, Stephen
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Acrylic Resins - chemistry Artificial Cells - chemistry Artificial Cells - ultrastructure Biomimetic Materials - chemistry Catalysis Cell-Free System - chemistry Cell-Free System - metabolism Drug Compounding Escherichia coli - chemistry Microscopy, Electron, Transmission Permeability Serum Albumin, Bovine - chemistry Surface Properties Water - metabolism
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Summary:	The mechanism of spontaneous assembly of microscale compartments is a central question for the origin of life, and has technological repercussions in diverse areas such as materials science, catalysis, biotechnology and biomedicine. Such compartments need to be semi-permeable, structurally robust and capable of housing assemblages of functional components for internalized chemical transformations. In principle, proteins should be ideal building blocks for the construction of membrane-bound compartments but protein vesicles with cell-like properties are extremely rare. Here we present an approach to the interfacial assembly of protein-based micro-compartments (proteinosomes) that are delineated by a semi-permeable, stimulus-responsive, enzymatically active, elastic membrane consisting of a closely packed monolayer of conjugated protein-polymer building blocks. The proteinosomes can be dispersed in oil or water, thermally cycled to temperatures of 70 °C, and partially dried and re-inflated without loss of structural integrity. As a consequence, they exhibit protocellular properties such as guest molecule encapsulation, selective permeability, gene-directed protein synthesis and membrane-gated internalized enzyme catalysis.
ISSN:	2041-1723 2041-1723