Controlling Secretion in Artificial Cells with a Membrane AND Gate.

ABSTRACT: The assembly of channel proteins into vesicle membranes is a useful strategy to control activities of vesicle-based systems. Here, we developed a membrane AND gate that responds to both a fatty acid and a pore-forming channel protein to induce the release of encapsulated cargo. We explored how membrane composition affects the functional assembly of ?-hemolysin into phospholipid vesicles as a function of oleic acid content and ?-hemolysin concentration. We then showed that we could induce ?-hemolysin assembly when we added oleic acid micelles to a specific composition of phospholipid vesicles. Finally, we demonstrated that our membrane AND gate could be coupled to a gene expression system. Our study provides a new method to control the temporal dynamics of vesicle permeability by controlling when the functional assembly of a channel protein into synthetic vesicles occurs. Furthermore, a membrane AND gate that utilizes membrane-associating biomolecules introduces a new way to implement Boolean logic that should complement genetic logic circuits and ultimately enhance the capabilities of artificial cellular systems.

SUBMITTER: Hilburger CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6885402 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature