High‐Throughput Synthesis and Screening of Functional Coacervates Using Microfluidics

To understand how membrane‐free subcompartmentalization can modulate biochemical reactions by coupled spatial enzyme localization with substrate and product partitioning, we use microfluidic strategies to synthesize, stabilize and characterize micron‐sized functional coacervates in water−oil emulsio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inChemSystemsChem Vol. 2; no. 6
Main Authors Beneyton, Thomas, Love, Celina, Girault, Mathias, Tang, T.‐Y. Dora, Baret, Jean‐Christophe
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2020
Wiley
Subjects
Bioengineering
Biomaterials
Chemical Sciences
coacervates
Condensed Matter
Life Sciences
Material chemistry
microfluidics
out-of-equilibrium
Physics
Polymers
Soft Condensed Matter
soft matter
synthetic chemistry
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:To understand how membrane‐free subcompartmentalization can modulate biochemical reactions by coupled spatial enzyme localization with substrate and product partitioning, we use microfluidic strategies to synthesize, stabilize and characterize micron‐sized functional coacervates in water−oil emulsions. Our methodologies have allowed for the first time to quantitatively characterize partition coefficients of a broad range of different molecules with different coacervate chemistries and to measure reaction rates of individual subcompartments and their surrounding aqueous environment at the single coacervate level. Our results show that sub‐compartmentalisation increases the overall rates of reactions. This bottom‐up synthetic strategy for the production of synthetic organelles offers a physical model for membrane‐free compartmentalization in biology and provides insights into the role of sub‐compartmentalisation in regulating out‐of‐equilibrium behaviours in biological systems. Open reaction centers: Droplet‐based microfluidics allows the high‐throughput synthesis and screening of populations of micron‐sized coacervates with an unprecedented accuracy. The study of partition coefficients and sequestered reaction rates in these minimal synthetic organelles provides insights in the role of sub‐compartmentalisation in regulating out‐of‐equilibrium behaviours in biological systems.
Bibliography:These authors contributed equally to this work
ISSN:2570-4206
2570-4206
DOI:10.1002/syst.202000022