A new Nature Chemistry paper demonstrates a synthetic cell microreactor with two interacting DNA-based pores that coordinate molecular transport and enable complex biochemical processes inside giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs).

The researchers created an artificial cell-like system in which two different DNA nanopores work together rather than independently. One pore can be opened and closed with light, allowing small molecules to pass through the membrane. The second pore forms through a membrane-remodelling process and enables the transport of larger molecules such as proteins and DNA structures.

Particularly interesting is that the two pore systems are connected through the dynamics of the membrane itself. This allows the synthetic cell to control when and how different molecular building blocks enter the compartment, enabling a sequence of carefully timed reactions.

Using this approach, the team demonstrated enzyme cascade reactions, actin cytoskeleton assembly, cell-free RNA transcription, and even the growth of three-dimensional DNA crystals within a cell-sized compartment. Together, these results represent an important step toward synthetic cells that can perform increasingly sophisticated, life-like functions.

We were pleased to see that the authors used the Vesicle Prep Pro to prepare the GUVs that formed the basis of many of these experiments. Advances like this depend on reliable model membrane systems, and it is rewarding to see our technologies supporting research in synthetic biology and bottom-up cell engineering.

Congratulations to the whole team on this elegant contribution to the growing field of synthetic cell engineering.

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Read the full article: A synthetic cell microreactor with two types of interacting dynamic DNA-based pores

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