A team of research students Lead by Dr Neal Devaraj, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at UC San Diego, discovered that a self-driven reaction can assemble phospholipid membranes like those that enclose cells. This discovery is very important when studying artificial cells.



Dr. Devaraj reports "This is the first report to my knowledge of nonenzymatically forming phospholipid membranes from thioester precursors.This mimics the membrane-protein-catalyzed assembly of phospholipids in live cells, which also uses long-chain thioesters as precursors."

As known, All living cells use membranes. The membranes are used to control the movement of biomolecules in and out of the cell. Biomolecules that send signals to and from the cells being the most important.

The team at US San Diego discovered and developed new reactions that can trigger the formation of membranes. Specifically the spheres that characterize membranes that enclose vesicles and cells. They described the process as specific and non-toxic. It is to be used in the presence of biomolecules within artificial cells. As said in the article, the technique could also be used to assemble packets for drug delivery.

Using thioester precursors, all natural cells use enzymes to catalyze the biochemical reactions that manufacture their membranes. However, the team At UC San Diego was able to get membranes to assemble spontaneously, without the use of any enzymes. They were able to accomplish this through a process called native chemical ligation.

This breakthrough in cell membranes will help further in the studies of artificial cells. Because the use of enzymes isn't necessary in the new process, the reactions appear to be "spontaneous." This spontaneous reaction using ligation allows for the chemical chains to bond together, such as DNA or protein, and create a new membrane.

Article: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141027100457.htm