title: Programmed vesicle fusion triggers gene expression.
abstract: The membrane properties of phospholipid vesicles can be manipulated to both regulate and initiate encapsulated biochemical reactions and networks. We present evidence for the inhibition and activation of reactions encapsulated in vesicles by the exogenous addition of charged amphiphiles. While the incorporation of cationic amphiphile exerts an inhibitory effect, complementation of additional anionic amphiphiles revitalize the reaction. We demonstrated both the simple hydrolysis reaction of β-glucuronidase and the in vitro gene expression of this enzyme from a DNA template. Furthermore, we show that two vesicle populations decorated separately with positive and negative amphiphiles can fuse selectively to supply feeding components to initiate encapsulated reactions. This mechanism could be one of the rudimentary but effective means to regulate and maintain metabolism in dynamic artificial cell models.
authors.affiliation: Center for Fundamental Living Technology (FLinT), Institute of Physics and Chemistry, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caschera
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sunami
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Martin M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hanczyc
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yomo
mesh_terms: D017123:Bacteriophage T7 / Q000201:enzymology; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008561:Membrane Fusion / Q000187:drug effects; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D013305:Streptomyces griseus / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D004247:DNA; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; D005966:Glucuronidase