Non-enzymatic oligonucleotide ligation in coacervate protocells sustains compartment-content coupling.

ABSTRACT: Modern cells are complex chemical compartments tightly regulated by an underlying DNA-encoded program. Achieving a form of coupling between molecular content, chemical reactions, and chassis in synthetic compartments represents a key step to the assembly of evolvable protocells but remains challenging. Here, we design coacervate droplets that promote non-enzymatic oligonucleotide polymerization and that restructure as a result of the reaction dynamics. More specifically, we rationally exploit complexation between end-reactive oligonucleotides able to stack into long physical polymers and a cationic azobenzene photoswitch to produce three different phases-soft solids, liquid crystalline or isotropic coacervates droplets-each of them having a different impact on the reaction efficiency. Dyna

SUBMITTER: Fraccia TP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10169843 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature