Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Vesicular Tubular Clusters01:45

Vesicular Tubular Clusters

After budding out from the ER membrane, some COPII vesicles lose their coat and fuse with one another to form larger vesicles and interconnected tubules called vesicular tubular clusters or VTCs. These clusters constitute a compartment at the ER-Golgi interface known as ERGIC (Endoplasmic Reticulum Golgi Intermediate Compartment). The ERGIC is a mobile membrane-bound cargo transport system that sorts proteins secreted from ER and delivers them to the Golgi.
With the help of motor proteins such...
Colonisation of Pathogens01:25

Colonisation of Pathogens

Pathogen colonization of host tissues is a critical step in the development of infectious diseases. Various pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa, have evolved complex strategies to attach to, invade, and persist within host environments. These mechanisms enable pathogens to establish infections, evade immune responses, and resist antimicrobial treatments.Attachment to Host CellsIn bacteria, colonization typically begins with adherence to host epithelial...
Prokaryotic Cells01:51

Prokaryotic Cells

Prokaryotes are small unicellular organisms that include the domains—Archaea and Bacteria. Bacteria include many common organisms, such as Salmonella and E. coli, while the Archaea include extremophiles that live in harsh environments, such as volcanic springs.
Like eukaryotic cells, all prokaryotic cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane, have genetic material in the form of single, circular DNA, a cytoplasm that fills the interior of the cell, and ribosomes that synthesize proteins.
Intralumenal Vesicles and Multivesicular Bodies01:38

Intralumenal Vesicles and Multivesicular Bodies

Intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) are small vesicles 50-80 nm in diameter formed during the maturation of early endosomes. A specialized endosome containing numerous ILVs is called a multivesicular body (MVB). ILVs contain internalized molecules such as antigens, nucleic acids, proteins, and metabolites. Some of these molecules are released from the MVBs inside exosomes and are transported to other cells. Other MVBs contain molecules that are retained in the ILVs and are later degraded within the...
COP Coated Vesicles00:59

COP Coated Vesicles

Membrane-enclosed structures called vesicles transport proteins and lipids across the cell. The vesicles derive their cargo from the plasma membrane, Golgi, ER, or endosome. Coated vesicles are spherical, protein-coated carriers with a 50–100 nm diameter that mediate bidirectional transport between the ER and the Golgi. The distribution of proteins between the ER and Golgi complex is dynamic and is maintained by different coated vesicles. Their formation is driven by the assembly of different...
Overview of Secretory Vesicles01:33

Overview of Secretory Vesicles

Secretory vesicles, also known as dense core vesicles (DCVs), are membrane-bound vesicles that transport secretory proteins, such as hormones or neurotransmitters. Regulated secretory vesicles transport proteins from the trans-Golgi network to the exterior of the cell. Proteins present in regulated secretory vesicles are required to be rapidly exocytosed in large amounts upon a specific stimulus.
Various proteins regulate the aggregation of molecules inside the secretory vesicles. Chromogranins...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Pier Luigi Luisi (1938-2025).

Life (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Wetware network-based AI: a chemical approach to embodied cognition for robotics and artificial intelligence.

Frontiers in robotics and AI·2026
Same author

Neuromorphic engineering in wetware: the state of the art and its perspectives.

Frontiers in neuroscience·2024
Same author

Living cells and biological mechanisms as prototypes for developing chemical artificial intelligence.

Biochemical and biophysical research communications·2024
Same author

Tracing a new path in the field of AI and robotics: mimicking human intelligence through chemistry. Part II: systems chemistry.

Frontiers in robotics and AI·2023
Same author

Chemical Systems for Wetware Artificial Life: Selected Perspectives in Synthetic Cell Research.

International journal of molecular sciences·2023

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Synthesis of Compound Giant Unilamellar Vesicles: A Biomimetic Model of Nucleate Cells
10:10

Synthesis of Compound Giant Unilamellar Vesicles: A Biomimetic Model of Nucleate Cells

Published on: July 3, 2025

Giant vesicles "colonies": a model for primitive cell communities.

Paolo Carrara1, Pasquale Stano, Pier Luigi Luisi

  • 1Biology Department, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Viale Guglielmo Marconi 446, 00146 Rome, Italy.

Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology
|June 13, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Primitive cell communities, or vesicle colonies, offer advantages over single cells for the origin of life. These colonies exhibit novel solute capture and vesicle fusion mechanisms, key to early life development.

More Related Videos

Human Colonoid Monolayers to Study Interactions Between Pathogens, Commensals, and Host Intestinal Epithelium
07:20

Human Colonoid Monolayers to Study Interactions Between Pathogens, Commensals, and Host Intestinal Epithelium

Published on: April 9, 2019

Bacterial Cell Culture at the Single-cell Level Inside Giant Vesicles
07:33

Bacterial Cell Culture at the Single-cell Level Inside Giant Vesicles

Published on: April 30, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 21, 2026

Synthesis of Compound Giant Unilamellar Vesicles: A Biomimetic Model of Nucleate Cells
10:10

Synthesis of Compound Giant Unilamellar Vesicles: A Biomimetic Model of Nucleate Cells

Published on: July 3, 2025

Human Colonoid Monolayers to Study Interactions Between Pathogens, Commensals, and Host Intestinal Epithelium
07:20

Human Colonoid Monolayers to Study Interactions Between Pathogens, Commensals, and Host Intestinal Epithelium

Published on: April 9, 2019

Bacterial Cell Culture at the Single-cell Level Inside Giant Vesicles
07:33

Bacterial Cell Culture at the Single-cell Level Inside Giant Vesicles

Published on: April 30, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Origin of Life Research
  • Astrobiology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Current origin of life research focuses on self-organization within individual cell-like compartments.
  • The minimal unit of life is considered a single cell, neglecting cooperative mechanisms in early life evolution.
  • No prior studies have investigated the advantages of primitive cell communities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore cooperative mechanisms in the origin of life by modeling primitive cell communities.
  • To investigate the potential advantages of vesicle colonies compared to isolated primitive cells.
  • To identify novel physicochemical mechanisms contributing to the origin of life.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a novel experimental approach using vesicle colonies as a model system.
  • Compared the behavior and properties of vesicle colonies with isolated primitive cells.
  • Analyzed key features such as solute capture and vesicle fusion within vesicle colonies.

Main Results:

  • Vesicle colonies demonstrate significant advantages over isolated primitive cells.
  • Discovered two novel features in vesicle colonies: solute capture and vesicle fusion.
  • These features represent fundamental physicochemical mechanisms relevant to the origin of life.

Conclusions:

  • Primitive cell communities, modeled as vesicle colonies, likely played a crucial role in the origin of life.
  • Solute capture and vesicle fusion are identified as key emergent properties of early cell cooperation.
  • This research shifts focus from single cells to cooperative systems in understanding life's origins.