Programmable Zwitterionic Droplets as Biomolecular Sorters and Model of Membraneless Organelles.
Adv Mater
; 34(4): e2104837, 2022 Jan.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34664748
ABSTRACT
Increasing evidence indicates that cells can regulate biochemical functions in time and space by generating membraneless compartments with well-defined mesoscopic properties. One important mechanism underlying this control is simple coacervation driven by associative disordered proteins that encode multivalent interactions. Inspired by these observations, programmable droplets based on simple coacervation of responsive synthetic polymers that mimic the "stickers-and-spacers" architecture of biological disordered proteins are developed. Zwitterionic polymers that undergo an enthalpy-driven liquid-liquid phase separation process and form liquid droplets that remarkably exclude most molecules are developed. Starting from this reference material, different functional groups in the zwitterionic polymer are progressively added to encode an increasing number of different intermolecular interactions. This strategy allowed the multiple emerging properties of the droplets to be controlled independently, such as stimulus-responsiveness, polarity, selective uptake of client molecules, fusion times, and miscibility. By exploiting this high programmability, a model of cellular compartmentalization is reproduced and droplets capable of confining different molecules in space without physical barriers are generated. Moreover, these biomolecular sorters are demonstrated to be able to localize, separate, and enable the detection of target molecules even within complex mixtures, opening attractive applications in bioseparation, and diagnostics.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Orgánulos
/
Condensados Biomoleculares
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Adv Mater
Asunto de la revista:
BIOFISICA
/
QUIMICA
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suiza