Synthetic mitochondria

Biologists have designed an "engine" for an artificial cell

Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+

Researchers from The University of Groningen has made an important step in the development of artificial cells. As reported by Phys.org they managed to create synthetic bubbles that produce ATP – the main "energy currency" of the cell.

Article by Pols et al. A synthetic metabolic network for physicochemical homeostasis is published in the journal Nature Communications – VM.

Previous attempts to launch the production of this molecule "in vitro" were not very successful. Although at the first stages artificial systems regularly produced ATP from the proposed components, after half an hour the reaction reached equilibrium, and the yield decreased.

After spending four years, Dutch researchers created lipid vesicles-vesicles equipped with a transport protein. He moved arginine inside the cell, and released ornithine outside. The transformation of one amino acid into another occurred inside the vesicle under the influence of special enzymes. The energy released in the process was used to synthesize ATP from ADP and phosphate.

Ornithine released into the external environment stimulated additional absorption of arginine. And the produced ATP ensured the work of the transport protein. In addition, the ATP molecule allowed the vesicle to maintain volume and ionic strength.

In experiments, the system maintained itself for 16 hours. This is a long time considering that some bacteria can divide once every 20 minutes. According to the authors' calculations, the mechanism will allow the artificial cell to divide every few hours.

Schematic representation of a synthetic metabolic network in a cellular container with intermediate compounds: arginine (red squares), ornithine (blue circles), citrulline (orange triangles), carbamoyl phosphate (pink triangles) and glycine-betaine (yellow ovals). NH3 and CO2 are not shown. A drawing from an article in Nature Communications – VM.

The team's research is part of a larger effort by Dutch scientists to create an autonomous artificial cell controlled by a synthetic chromosome. Different research groups are working on its individual components, which then have to be assembled into a single whole.

Scientists admit that they are separated from this goal by at least several years. Nevertheless, an artificial energy production system can already be used today to study ATP-dependent processes and membrane transport.

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