Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Chem Soc Rev. 2021 Mar 21;50(6):3690-3705. doi: 10.1039/d0cs00307g. Epub 2021 Feb 22.
Coacervates are condensed liquid-like droplets formed by liquid-liquid phase separation of molecules through multiple weak associative interactions. In recent years it has emerged that not only long polymers, but also short peptides are capable of forming simple and complex coacervates. The coacervate droplets they form act as compartments that sequester and concentrate a wide range of solutes, and their spontaneous formation make coacervates attractive protocell models. The main advantage of peptides as building blocks lies in the functional diversity of the amino acid residues, which allows for tailoring of the peptide's phase separation propensity, their selectivity in guest molecule uptake and the physicochemical and catalytic properties of the compartments. The aim of this tutorial review is to illustrate the recent developments in the field of peptide-based coacervates in a systematic way and to deduce the basic requirements for both simple and complex coacervation of peptides. We review a selection of peptide coacervates that illustrates the essentials of phase separation, the limitations, and the properties that make peptide coacervates biomimetic protocells. Finally, we provide some perspectives of this novel research field in the direction of active droplets, moving away from thermodynamic equilibrium.
凝聚物是通过分子间的多种弱相互作用发生液-液相分离而形成的浓缩液相液滴。近年来的研究表明，不仅长聚合物，而且短肽也能够形成简单和复杂的凝聚物。它们形成的凝聚物液滴作为隔室，隔离并浓缩广泛的溶质，而且它们的自发形成使凝聚物成为有吸引力的原细胞模型。肽作为构建块的主要优势在于氨基酸残基的功能多样性，这允许对肽的相分离倾向、对客体分子摄取的选择性以及隔室的物理化学和催化性质进行定制。本综述的目的是以系统的方式说明基于肽的凝聚物领域的最新进展，并推导出简单和复杂的肽凝聚的基本要求。我们综述了一系列肽凝聚物，说明了相分离的要点、局限性以及使肽凝聚物成为仿生原细胞的特性。最后，我们从热力学平衡的角度出发，为这个新的研究领域提供了一些关于活性液滴的展望。
