State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Biology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Bio-Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, P. R. China.
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Jun 5;62(23):e202301559. doi: 10.1002/anie.202301559. Epub 2023 Apr 27.
The ability to reproduce signal transduction and cellular communication in artificial cell systems is significant in synthetic protobiology. Here, we describe an artificial transmembrane signal transduction through low pH-mediated formation of the i-motif and dimerization of DNA-based artificial membrane receptors, which is coupled to the occurrence of fluorescence resonance energy transfer and the activation of G-quadruplex/hemin-mediated fluorescence amplification inside giant unilamellar vesicles. Moreover, an intercellular signal communication model is established when the extravesicular H input is replaced by coacervate microdroplets, which activate the dimerization of the artificial receptors, and subsequent fluorescence production or polymerization in giant unilamellar vesicles. This study represents a crucial step towards designing artificial signalling systems with environmental response, and provides an opportunity to establish signalling networks in protocell colonies.
在合成原生物学中，能够在人工细胞系统中再现信号转导和细胞通讯是非常重要的。在这里，我们描述了一种通过低 pH 介导的 i-motif 形成和基于 DNA 的人工膜受体二聚化进行的人工跨膜信号转导，该过程与荧光共振能量转移的发生以及在巨大的单层囊泡内 G-四链体/血红素介导的荧光放大有关。此外，当囊外 H 输入被凝聚微滴取代时，建立了细胞间信号通讯模型，这会激活人工受体的二聚化，随后在巨大的单层囊泡中产生荧光或聚合。这项研究是朝着设计具有环境响应的人工信号系统迈出的关键一步，并为在原细胞群体中建立信号网络提供了机会。
