Synthetic chemical bubbles can now pump molecules against a gradient, mimicking the fundamental engine of biological life.
Living cells stay alive by constantly pumping ions and nutrients across their membranes, a process that usually requires complex protein machinery. Chemists have now created the first purely synthetic vesicles that can perform this same trick using simple chemical fuel. These bubbles create a pH gradient that drives the transport of other molecules automatically. It marks the first time that this active transport has been achieved without using a single biological component. This breakthrough is a massive step toward building fully functional artificial cells from the ground up.
Chemically Fueled Active Transport Cascades in Large Unilamellar Vesicles
ChemRxiv · 10.26434/chemrxiv.15002887/v1
Biology routinely transduces energy stored in chemical bonds to create transmembrane gradients, which are themselves a crucial on-demand energy store to drive life’s vital processes. We report a strategy for the chemically fueled active transport of molecular cargo in large unilamellar vesicles. We outline the features required for driving active transport across phospholipid bilayers. Through a series of experiments in both hybrid lipid–liquid supported bilayers and biomimetic vesicles, we demo