Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reaction
Abstract The bottom-up reconstitution of self-growing artificial cells is a critical milestone toward realizing autonomy and evolvability. However, building artificial cells that exhibit self-growth coupled with internal replication of gene-encoding DNA has not been achieved yet. Here, we report sel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56172-7 |
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| _version_ | 1849766459548368896 |
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| author | Yoshihiro Minagawa Moe Yabuta Masayuki Su’etsugu Hiroyuki Noji |
| author_facet | Yoshihiro Minagawa Moe Yabuta Masayuki Su’etsugu Hiroyuki Noji |
| author_sort | Yoshihiro Minagawa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The bottom-up reconstitution of self-growing artificial cells is a critical milestone toward realizing autonomy and evolvability. However, building artificial cells that exhibit self-growth coupled with internal replication of gene-encoding DNA has not been achieved yet. Here, we report self-growing artificial cell models based on dextran-rich droplets in an aqueous two-phase system of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and dextran (DEX). Motivated by the finding that DNA induces the generation of DEX-rich droplets, we integrate DNA amplification system with DEX-rich droplets, which exhibited active self-growth. We implement the protocells with cell-free transcription-translation systems coupled with DNA amplification/replication, which also show active self-growth. Considering the simplicities in terms of the chemical composition and the mechanism, these results underscore the potential of DEX droplets as a foundational platform for engineering protocells, giving implications for the emergence of protocells under prebiotic conditions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8ce47efdce6742d59c55f644400bf3d7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-8ce47efdce6742d59c55f644400bf3d72025-08-20T03:04:34ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-02-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-56172-7Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reactionYoshihiro Minagawa0Moe Yabuta1Masayuki Su’etsugu2Hiroyuki Noji3Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, The University of TokyoDepartment of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, The University of TokyoDepartment of Life Science, College of Science, Rikkyo UniversityDepartment of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, The University of TokyoAbstract The bottom-up reconstitution of self-growing artificial cells is a critical milestone toward realizing autonomy and evolvability. However, building artificial cells that exhibit self-growth coupled with internal replication of gene-encoding DNA has not been achieved yet. Here, we report self-growing artificial cell models based on dextran-rich droplets in an aqueous two-phase system of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and dextran (DEX). Motivated by the finding that DNA induces the generation of DEX-rich droplets, we integrate DNA amplification system with DEX-rich droplets, which exhibited active self-growth. We implement the protocells with cell-free transcription-translation systems coupled with DNA amplification/replication, which also show active self-growth. Considering the simplicities in terms of the chemical composition and the mechanism, these results underscore the potential of DEX droplets as a foundational platform for engineering protocells, giving implications for the emergence of protocells under prebiotic conditions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56172-7 |
| spellingShingle | Yoshihiro Minagawa Moe Yabuta Masayuki Su’etsugu Hiroyuki Noji Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reaction Nature Communications |
| title | Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reaction |
| title_full | Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reaction |
| title_fullStr | Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reaction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reaction |
| title_short | Self-growing protocell models in aqueous two-phase system induced by internal DNA replication reaction |
| title_sort | self growing protocell models in aqueous two phase system induced by internal dna replication reaction |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56172-7 |
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