Issue 35, 2020

Dissipative self-assembly, competition and inhibition in a self-reproducing protocell model

Abstract

The bottom-up synthesis of artificial, life-like systems promises to enable the study of emergent properties distinctive to life. Here, we report protocell systems generated from phase-separated building blocks. Vesicle protocells self-reproduce through a phase-transfer mechanism, catalysing their own formation. Dissipative self-assembly by the protocells is achieved when a hydrolysis step to destroy the surfactant is introduced. Competition between micelle and vesicle based replicators for a common feedstock shows that environmental conditions can control what species predominates: under basic conditions vesicles predominate, but in a neutral medium micelles are selected for via a mechanism which inhibits vesicle formation. Finally, the protocells enable orthogonal reactivity by catalysing in situ formation of an amphiphilic organocatalyst, which after incorporation into the vesicle bilayer enantioselectively forms a secondary product.

Graphical abstract: Dissipative self-assembly, competition and inhibition in a self-reproducing protocell model

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
14 Maijs 2020
Accepted
07 Aug. 2020
First published
12 Aug. 2020
This article is Open Access

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

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 9434-9442

Dissipative self-assembly, competition and inhibition in a self-reproducing protocell model

E. A. J. Post and S. P. Fletcher, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 9434 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC02768E

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