Hanczyc Martin M, Toyota Taro, Ikegami Takashi, Packard Norman, Sugawara Tadashi
ProtoLife Srl, Parco Vega, Via della Liberta 12, Marghera, Venice, Italy.
J Am Chem Soc. 2007 Aug 1;129(30):9386-91. doi: 10.1021/ja0706955. Epub 2007 Jul 6.
Fatty acids have been investigated as boundary structures to construct artificial cells due to their dynamic properties and phase transitions. Here we have explored the possibility that fatty acid systems also demonstrate movement. An oil phase was loaded with a fatty acid anhydride precursor and introduced to an aqueous fatty acid micelle solution. The oil droplets showed autonomous, sustained movement through the aqueous media. Internal convection created a positive feedback loop, and the movement of the oil droplet was sustained as convection drove fresh precursor to the surface to become hydrolyzed. As the system progressed, more surfactant was produced and some of the oil droplets transformed into supramolecular aggregates resembling multilamellar vesicles. The oil droplets also moved directionally within chemical gradients and exhibited a type of chemotaxis.
由于脂肪酸具有动态特性和相变特性，因此已被研究作为构建人工细胞的边界结构。在这里，我们探讨了脂肪酸系统也表现出运动的可能性。将油相装载脂肪酸酐前体并引入水性脂肪酸胶束溶液中。油滴在水性介质中表现出自主、持续的运动。内部对流产生了一个正反馈回路，随着对流将新鲜的前体驱赶到表面进行水解，油滴的运动得以持续。随着系统的进展，产生了更多的表面活性剂，一些油滴转变为类似多层囊泡的超分子聚集体。油滴还在化学梯度内定向移动，并表现出一种趋化性。
