Membraneless Compartmentalization Facilitates Enzymatic Cascade Reactions and Reduces Substrate Inhibition.

ABSTRACT: Living cells possess membraneless organelles formed by liquid-liquid phase separation. With the aim of better understanding the general functions of membraneless microcompartments, this paper constructs acellular multicompartment reaction systems using an aqueous multiphase system. Membraneless coacervate droplets are placed within a molecularly crowded environment, where a larger dextran (DEX) droplet is submerged in a polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution. The coacervate droplets are capable of sequestering reagents and enzymes with a long retention time, and demonstrate multistep cascading reactions through the liquid-liquid interfaces. The ability to change phase dynamics is also demonstrated through salt-mediated dissolution of coacervate droplets, which leads to the release and mixing o

SUBMITTER: Kojima T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6258206 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature