Highlighted By: Jacqueline De Lora, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Preprint DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.23.554401
This preprint has been assigned the following Badges:
Significance Statement:
- Developing cell-free transcription and translation systems is a key challenge in engineering synthetic cells. While lipid-derived compartmentalization of such systems has been achieved, other synthetic cellular platforms such as proteinosomes with enhanced material properties for stabilization, flexibility of use, and integration with higher-order cellular architectures, would be beneficial.
- The authors propose a simplified methodology for proteinosome fabrication using conjugates of bovine serum albumin-Poly(N-isopropylacrylaminde) that are compatible with cell-free expression systems. They use microscopy to demonstrate DNA and mRNA retention within porous proteinosomes while proteins diffuse freely.
- The proposed technology to compartmentalize functional transcription and translation machinery within proteinosomes enables creative synthetic cell architectures with the benefit of diffusive molecular transport. These findings will provide new insights into the central dogma of biology and influence applications in cell engineering.
Read the Preprint:
Cell free expression in proteinosomes prepared from native protein-PNIPAAm conjugates
MBoC's Preprint Highlights are commentaries written by Early-Career Editors on recent preprints of interest. They do not constitute peer review or imply publication of the original preprint by MBoC. For more information, visit https://www.molbiolcell.org/curation-tools.
Read the latest research in MBoC Meet the Early-Career Editors
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Recommended Articles
Preprint Highlight: mRNA Location and Translation Rate Determine Protein Targeting to Dual Destinations
Preprint Highlight: Learning orientation-invariant representations enables accurate and robust morphologic profiling of cells and organelles
Preprint Highlight: The pore-forming apolipoprotein APOL7C drives phagosomal rupture and antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells