Interfacial assembly of protein–polymer nano-conjugates into stimulus-responsive biomimetic protocells

• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3239
• Publication Date: 2013-07-30T11:08:46Z
• Authors: Xin Huang; Mei Li; David C. Green; David S. Williams; Avinash J. Patil; Stephen Mann
• Keywords: Protocell; Artificial cell; Microscale chemistry; Nanobiotechnology; Polymersome

The mechanism of spontaneous assembly of microscale compartments is a central question for the origin of life, and has technological repercussions in diverse areas such as materials science, catalysis, biotechnology and biomedicine. Such compartments need to be semi-permeable, structurally robust and capable of housing assemblages of functional components for internalized chemical transformations. In principle, proteins should be ideal building blocks for the construction of membrane-bound compartments but protein vesicles with cell-like properties are extremely rare. Here we present an approach to the interfacial assembly of protein-based micro-compartments (proteinosomes) that are delineated by a semi-permeable, stimulus-responsive, enzymatically active, elastic membrane consisting of a closely packed monolayer of conjugated protein-polymer building blocks. The proteinosomes can be dispersed in oil or water, thermally cycled to temperatures of 70 °C, and partially dried and re-inflated without loss of structural integrity. As a consequence, they exhibit protocellular properties such as guest molecule encapsulation, selective permeability, gene-directed protein synthesis and membrane-gated internalized enzyme catalysis.