Triggerable Protocell Capture in Nanoparticle-Caged Coacervate Microdroplets

Ning Gao, Can Xu, Zhuping Yin, Mei Li, Stephen Mann*

*此作品的通讯作者

科研成果: 期刊稿件文章同行评审

47 引用 (Scopus)

摘要

Controlling the dynamics of mixed communities of cell-like entities (protocells) provides a step toward the development of higher-order cytomimetic behaviors in artificial cell consortia. In this paper, we develop a caged protocell model with a molecularly crowded coacervate interior surrounded by a non-cross-linked gold (Au)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) nanoparticle-jammed stimuli-responsive membrane. The jammed membrane is unlocked by either exogenous light-mediated Au/PEG dissociation at the Au surface or endogenous enzyme-mediated cleavage of a ketal linkage on the PEG backbone. The membrane assembly/disassembly process is used for the controlled and selective uptake of guest protocells into the caged coacervate microdroplets as a path toward an all-water model of triggerable transmembrane uptake in synthetic protocell communities. Active capture of the guest protocells stems from the high sequestration potential of the coacervate interior such that tailoring the surface properties of the guest protocells provides a rudimentary system of protocell sorting. Our results highlight the potential for programming surface-contact interactions between artificial membrane-bounded compartments and could have implications for the development of protocell networks, storage and delivery microsystems, and microreactor technologies.

源语言英语
页(从-至)3855-3862
页数8
期刊Journal of the American Chemical Society
144
9
DOI
出版状态已出版 - 9 3月 2022
已对外发布

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