IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-27229-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Engineering transient dynamics of artificial cells by stochastic distribution of enzymes

Author

Listed:
  • Shidong Song

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Alexander F. Mason

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Richard A. J. Post

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Marco De Corato

    (The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
    University of Zaragoza)

  • Rafael Mestre

    (The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology)

  • N. Amy Yewdall

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Shoupeng Cao

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Remco W. Hofstad

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Samuel Sanchez

    (The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
    Pg. Lluís Companys 23)

  • Loai K. E. A. Abdelmohsen

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Jan C. M. Hest

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

Abstract

Random fluctuations are inherent to all complex molecular systems. Although nature has evolved mechanisms to control stochastic events to achieve the desired biological output, reproducing this in synthetic systems represents a significant challenge. Here we present an artificial platform that enables us to exploit stochasticity to direct motile behavior. We found that enzymes, when confined to the fluidic polymer membrane of a core-shell coacervate, were distributed stochastically in time and space. This resulted in a transient, asymmetric configuration of propulsive units, which imparted motility to such coacervates in presence of substrate. This mechanism was confirmed by stochastic modelling and simulations in silico. Furthermore, we showed that a deeper understanding of the mechanism of stochasticity could be utilized to modulate the motion output. Conceptually, this work represents a leap in design philosophy in the construction of synthetic systems with life-like behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Shidong Song & Alexander F. Mason & Richard A. J. Post & Marco De Corato & Rafael Mestre & N. Amy Yewdall & Shoupeng Cao & Remco W. Hofstad & Samuel Sanchez & Loai K. E. A. Abdelmohsen & Jan C. M. Hes, 2021. "Engineering transient dynamics of artificial cells by stochastic distribution of enzymes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27229-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27229-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27229-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-27229-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mijatović, Aleksandar & Mramor, Veno & Uribe Bravo, Gerónimo, 2020. "A note on the exact simulation of spherical Brownian motion," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    2. Dhanya Babu & Robert J. H. Scanes & Rémi Plamont & Alexander Ryabchun & Federico Lancia & Tibor Kudernac & Stephen P. Fletcher & Nathalie Katsonis, 2021. "Acceleration of lipid reproduction by emergence of microscopic motion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mireia Casanovas Montasell & Pere Monge & Sheiliza Carmali & Livia Mesquita Dias Loiola & Dante Guldbrandsen Andersen & Kaja Borup Løvschall & Ane Bretschneider Søgaard & Maria Merrild Kristensen & Je, 2022. "Chemical zymogens for the protein cysteinome," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valentić, Ivana, 2023. "Skew-product decomposition of Brownian motion on an ellipsoid," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27229-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.