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For a long time, artificial life has been a cutting-edge topic in the biomedical community.
In 2020, the team of American scientist Craig Venter announced to the world that the first case of artificial life, a single-celled bacteria controlled entirely by artificial genes, was born.
The new era of artificial cells
.
Unfortunately, studies have found that these cell "replicas" often lack the ability to perform complex cellular processes, such as active transport
Recently, this problem has finally achieved a major breakthrough
.
The research team of New York University and the University of Chicago jointly published a study titled "Transmembrane transport in inorganic colloidal cell-mimics" in the top journal "Nature".
Document DOI: https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41586-021-03774-y
As we all know, cells are the basic structural and functional units of organisms and the basis for growth and development.
Analyzing their structure and functions is of great significance for scientists to understand the mysteries of life and genes
.
However, although significant progress has been made in cell biology research, there are still many problems to be solved in artificial cells, such as a basic function of living cells, "active transportation", which can help living cells absorb necessary nutrients from the environment and store them.
Legend: "Artificial cells" with active transport function
So what is active transportation? Active transport is a process in which substances are transported into or out of the cell membrane under the action of carrier proteins and energy against the concentration gradient
.
This process requires not only the specific delivery of protein molecules embedded in the cell membrane as a carrier, but also the consumption of energy generated by cell metabolism
In this latest experiment, in order to design artificial cells, the researchers used a polymer to make a cell membrane replacement "red blood cell-sized spherical membrane" to control the entry and exit of substances in and out of the cell, and then they used a polymer to simulate the substances that can be carried in the cell.
For the exchanged protein channel, a micro-hole is drilled in the spherical membrane to form a nanochannel
.
Legend: Nano channel
Subsequently, after the preliminary work to construct the "artificial cell" was ready, the researchers began to consider how to provide a source of power for the "active transportation" process of this cell replica
.
They added a solid photocatalyst to the nanochannels of artificial cells.
When activated by light, this catalyst acts as an internal swimming pump, forming a tiny vacuum environment through chemical reactions, and pulling surrounding materials.
Into the cell membrane
.
When the light stops, the substance is captured and reacts in the cell membrane
Finally, the researchers tested these artificial cells in different environments, placed them in suspension, and activated them with light.
An astonishing thing happened.
These cells can capture solid particles, impurities, and emulsions from the surrounding environment.
Droplets and bacteria
.
In addition, particles with different geometries and compositions can be collected and then fused together to form a composite mixture
Legend: Active transportation process
Stefano Sacanna, the corresponding author of the study and associate professor of chemistry at New York University, said: "We can imagine the process of these artificial cells eating pollutants as a Pac-Man (PAC-MAN) video game
.
The technical concept is to limit the so far to living cells.
All in all, this research provides a blueprint for the construction of "cellmimics" whose potential applications range from drug delivery to environmental science.
In the next step, researchers will explore other functions of artificial cells and find The way artificial cells "communicate" with each other
.
But is artificial life science fiction or reality? What changes will it bring to our lives? It will take time to prove whether it is a gospel or a disaster for mankind
Reference materials:
[1]https://
