Issue 8, 2021

Self-programmed enzyme phase separation and multiphase coacervate droplet organization

Abstract

Membraneless organelles are phase-separated droplets that are dynamically assembled and dissolved in response to biochemical reactions in cells. Complex coacervate droplets produced by associative liquid–liquid phase separation offer a promising approach to mimic such dynamic compartmentalization. Here, we present a model for membraneless organelles based on enzyme/polyelectrolyte complex coacervates able to induce their own condensation and dissolution. We show that glucose oxidase forms coacervate droplets with a cationic polysaccharide on a narrow pH range, so that enzyme-driven monotonic pH changes regulate the emergence, growth, decay and dissolution of the droplets depending on the substrate concentration. Significantly, we demonstrate that time-programmed coacervate assembly and dissolution can be achieved in a single-enzyme system. We further exploit this self-driven enzyme phase separation to produce multiphase droplets via dynamic polyion self-sorting in the presence of a secondary coacervate phase. Taken together, our results open perspectives for the realization of programmable synthetic membraneless organelles based on self-regulated enzyme/polyelectrolyte complex coacervation.

Graphical abstract: Self-programmed enzyme phase separation and multiphase coacervate droplet organization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
23 Nov 2020
Accepted
22 Jan 2021
First published
25 Jan 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 2794-2802

Self-programmed enzyme phase separation and multiphase coacervate droplet organization

H. Karoui, M. J. Seck and N. Martin, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 2794 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC06418A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements