Reversible pH-Responsive Coacervate Formation in Lipid Vesicles Activates Dormant Enzymatic Reactions

Celina Love, Jan Steinkühler, David T. Gonzales, Naresh Yandrapalli, Tom Robinson, Rumiana Dimova, T. Y.Dora Tang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

In situ, reversible coacervate formation within lipid vesicles represents a key step in the development of responsive synthetic cellular models. Herein, we exploit the pH responsiveness of a polycation above and below its pKa, to drive liquid–liquid phase separation, to form single coacervate droplets within lipid vesicles. The process is completely reversible as coacervate droplets can be disassembled by increasing the pH above the pKa. We further show that pH-triggered coacervation in the presence of low concentrations of enzymes activates dormant enzyme reactions by increasing the local concentration within the coacervate droplets and changing the local environment around the enzyme. In conclusion, this work establishes a tunable, pH responsive, enzymatically active multi-compartment synthetic cell. The system is readily transferred into microfluidics, making it a robust model for addressing general questions in biology, such as the role of phase separation and its effect on enzymatic reactions using a bottom-up synthetic biology approach.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5950-5957
Number of pages8
JournalAngewandte Chemie - International Edition
Volume59
Issue number15
Early online date26 Jan 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Apr 2020

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • coacervates
  • liquid–liquid phase separation
  • microfluidics
  • pH responsive
  • protocells

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