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Related Experiment Videos

RNA catalysis in model protocell vesicles.

Irene A Chen1, Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani, Jack W Szostak

  • 1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

Journal of the American Chemical Society
|September 22, 2005
PubMed
Summary
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Researchers created model protocells using fatty acid vesicles that support self-replicating RNA. These vesicles are stable, permeable, and grow, overcoming challenges for early life evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Origin of life research
  • Chemical evolution
  • Protocell development

Background:

  • Darwinian evolution requires self-replicating systems.
  • Encapsulating self-replicating nucleic acids in membrane vesicles is a key strategy for creating artificial protocells.
  • Fatty acid vesicles face challenges with divalent cations (e.g., Mg2+) crucial for ribozyme activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To synthesize chemical systems capable of Darwinian evolution.
  • To address the compatibility of self-replicating nucleic acids and membrane vesicles.
  • To develop Mg(2+)-tolerant and permeable vesicles for protocell models.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a mixture of myristoleic acid and its glycerol monoester to construct vesicles.
  • Investigated Mg(2+) tolerance and permeability of the synthesized vesicles.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Encapsulated a hammerhead ribozyme within vesicles to test its activity and self-cleavage.

    • Main Results:

    • Developed Mg(2+)-tolerant vesicles that allow cation permeation.
    • Observed Mg(2+) activation and self-cleavage of encapsulated hammerhead ribozymes.
    • Demonstrated spontaneous vesicle growth via osmotic competition and micelle addition.

    Conclusions:

    • Membranes from simple amphiphiles can form stable yet dynamic vesicles.
    • These vesicles retain encapsulated RNA in the presence of divalent cations.
    • The stability and dynamic properties are crucial for laboratory protocell construction and may reflect early cellular evolution.