Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Nijmegen, 6525 AJ, The Netherlands.
Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), CNRS UMR 7006, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 67083, France.
Small Methods. 2023 Dec;7(12):e2300294. doi: 10.1002/smtd.202300294. Epub 2023 Jun 24.
Compartmentalization is crucial for the functioning of cells. Membranes enclose and protect the cell, regulate the transport of molecules entering and exiting the cell, and organize cellular machinery in subcompartments. In addition, membraneless condensates, or coacervates, offer dynamic compartments that act as biomolecular storage centers, organizational hubs, or reaction crucibles. Emerging evidence shows that phase-separated membraneless bodies in the cell are involved in a wide range of functional interactions with cellular membranes, leading to transmembrane signaling, membrane remodeling, intracellular transport, and vesicle formation. Such functional and dynamic interplay between phase-separated droplets and membranes also offers many potential benefits to artificial cells, as shown by recent studies involving coacervates and liposomes. Depending on the relative sizes and interaction strength between coacervates and membranes, coacervates can serve as artificial membraneless organelles inside liposomes, as templates for membrane assembly and hybrid artificial cell formation, as membrane remodelers for tubulation and possibly division, and finally, as cargo containers for transport and delivery of biomolecules across membranes by endocytosis or direct membrane crossing. Here, recent experimental examples of each of these functions are reviewed and the underlying physicochemical principles and possible future applications are discussed.
分隔是细胞功能的关键。膜包围并保护细胞，调节进入和离开细胞的分子的运输，并将细胞机制组织在亚区室中。此外，无膜凝聚物或凝聚物提供了动态隔间，作为生物分子储存中心、组织中心或反应坩埚。新出现的证据表明，细胞中相分离的无膜体与细胞膜之间存在广泛的功能相互作用，导致跨膜信号转导、膜重塑、细胞内运输和囊泡形成。这种相分离液滴和膜之间的功能和动态相互作用也为人工细胞带来了许多潜在的好处，最近涉及凝聚物和脂质体的研究表明了这一点。根据凝聚物和膜之间的相对大小和相互作用强度，凝聚物可以作为脂质体内部的人工无膜细胞器，作为膜组装和杂交人工细胞形成的模板，作为管状和可能分裂的膜重塑剂，最后，作为通过胞吞作用或直接跨膜穿越运输和递送到细胞膜内的生物分子的货物容器。在这里，回顾了每种功能的最近实验实例，并讨论了潜在的物理化学原理和可能的未来应用。
