Self- reproduction as an autonomous process of growth and reorganization in fully abiotic, artificial and synthetic cells

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Katla, Sai Krishna; Lin, Chenyu; Perez-Mercader, Juan
• 署名单位: Harvard University; The Santa Fe Institute
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10115
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2412514122
• 发表日期: 2025-06-03
• 关键词: polymerization; chemistry

摘要

We investigate mechanisms for the observed nonlinear growth in the number of polymer vesicles generated during a photo- Reversible Addition- Fragmentation Chain Transfer- based polymerization- induced self- assembly (PISA) reaction. Our experimental results reveal the presence of a self- reproduction process during which chemically active polymer protocells are chemically and autonomously generated in a light- stimulated one- pot reaction that starts from a homogeneous blend of non- self- assembling molecules and which, as observed microscopically, form vesicular objects that grow and multiply (reproduce) during irradiation with green light (530 nm) as the reaction proceeds. By using a filtration- based protocol, our experiments demonstrate that the self- reproduction process occurs concomitantly with the PISA process and results in a nonlinear increase in the number of polymer vesicles during photopolymerization which can only be ascribed to their reproduction via polymeric spores ejected from previously existing first- generation vesicles. The second and subsequent generations' vesicles also self- reproduce and continue the process of population growth.