Sugar synthesis in a protocellular model leads to a cell signalling response in bacteria

Abstract

The design of systems with life-like properties from simple chemical components may offer insights into biological processes, with the ultimate goal of creating an artificial chemical cell that would be considered to be alive. Most efforts to create artificial cells have concentrated on systems based on complex natural molecules such as DNA and RNA. Here we have constructed a lipid-bound protometabolism that synthesizes complex carbohydrates from simple feedstocks, which are capable of engaging the natural quorum sensing mechanism of the marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi and stimulating a proportional bioluminescent response. This encapsulated system may represent the first step towards the realization of a cellular ‘mimic’ and a starting point for ‘bottom-up’ designs of other chemical cells, which could perhaps display complex behaviours such as communication with natural cells. Building artificial chemical systems that mimic the behaviour of cells could offer new insights into biological processes. Now, researchers show that by compartmentalizing the autocatalytic formose reaction inside lipid vesicles, and using small-molecule precursors as a ‘metabolic’ fuel, they can create a system that is capable of communicating with living bacterial cells.

Cite this article

Gardner, P., Winzer, K. & Davis, B. Sugar synthesis in a protocellular model leads to a cell signalling response in bacteria. Nature Chem 1, 377–383 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.296

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