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      Artificial Lipid Membranes: Past, Present, and Future

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          Abstract

          The multifaceted role of biological membranes prompted early the development of artificial lipid-based models with a primary view of reconstituting the natural functions in vitro so as to study and exploit chemoreception for sensor engineering. Over the years, a fair amount of knowledge on the artificial lipid membranes, as both, suspended or supported lipid films and liposomes, has been disseminated and has helped to diversify and expand initial scopes. Artificial lipid membranes can be constructed by several methods, stabilized by various means, functionalized in a variety of ways, experimented upon intensively, and broadly utilized in sensor development, drug testing, drug discovery or as molecular tools and research probes for elucidating the mechanics and the mechanisms of biological membranes. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art, discusses the diversity of applications, and presents future perspectives. The newly-introduced field of artificial cells further broadens the applicability of artificial membranes in studying the evolution of life.

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          In vivo imaging of quantum dots encapsulated in phospholipid micelles.

          Benoît Dubertret, Paris Skourides, David Norris … (2002)
          Fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) have the potential to revolutionize biological imaging, but their use has been limited by difficulties in obtaining nanocrystals that are biocompatible. To address this problem, we encapsulated individual nanocrystals in phospholipid block-copolymer micelles and demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo imaging. When conjugated to DNA, the nanocrystal-micelles acted as in vitro fluorescent probes to hybridize to specific complementary sequences. Moreover, when injected into Xenopus embryos, the nanocrystal-micelles were stable, nontoxic (<5 x 10(9) nanocrystals per cell), cell autonomous, and slow to photobleach. Nanocrystal fluorescence could be followed to the tadpole stage, allowing lineage-tracing experiments in embryogenesis.
          Article 0 comments Cited 380 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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            Self-reproduction of supramolecular giant vesicles combined with the amplification of encapsulated DNA.

            Kensuke Kurihara, Mieko Tamura, Koh-ichiroh Shohda … (2011)
            The construction of a protocell from a materials point of view is important in understanding the origin of life. Both self-reproduction of a compartment and self-replication of an informational substance have been studied extensively, but these processes have typically been carried out independently, rather than linked to one another. Here, we demonstrate the amplification of DNA (encapsulated guest) within a self-reproducible cationic giant vesicle (host). With the addition of a vesicular membrane precursor, we observe the growth and spontaneous division of the giant vesicles, accompanied by distribution of the DNA to the daughter giant vesicles. In particular, amplification of the DNA accelerated the division of the giant vesicles. This means that self-replication of an informational substance has been linked to self-reproduction of a compartment through the interplay between polyanionic DNA and the cationic vesicular membrane. Our self-reproducing giant vesicle system therefore represents a step forward in the construction of an advanced model protocell.
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              Coupled Growth and Division of Model Protocell Membranes

              Ting F. Zhu, Jack W. Szostak (2009)
              The generation of synthetic forms of cellular life requires solutions to the problem of how biological processes such as cyclic growth and division could emerge from purely physical and chemical systems. Small unilamellar fatty acid vesicles grow when fed with fatty acid micelles and can be forced to divide by extrusion, but this artificial division process results in significant loss of protocell contents during each division cycle. Here we describe a simple and efficient pathway for model protocell membrane growth and division. The growth of large multilamellar fatty acid vesicles fed with fatty acid micelles, in a solution where solute permeation across the membranes is slow, results in the transformation of initially spherical vesicles into long thread-like vesicles, a process driven by the transient imbalance between surface area and volume growth. Modest shear forces are then sufficient to cause the thread-like vesicles to divide into multiple daughter vesicles without loss of internal contents. In an environment of gentle shear, protocell growth and division are thus coupled processes. We show that model protocells can proceed through multiple cycles of reproduction. Encapsulated RNA molecules, representing a primitive genome, are distributed to the daughter vesicles. Our observations bring us closer to the laboratory synthesis of a complete protocell consisting of a self-replicating genome and a self-replicating membrane compartment. In addition, the robustness and simplicity of this pathway suggests that similar processes might have occurred under the prebiotic conditions of the early Earth.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Membranes (Basel)
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Membranes (Basel)
                Journal ID (publisher-id): membranes
                Title: Membranes
                Publisher: MDPI
                ISSN (Electronic): 2077-0375
                Publication date (Electronic): 26 July 2017
                Publication date Collection: September 2017
                Volume: 7
                Issue: 3
                Electronic Location Identifier: 38
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Laboratory of Simulation of Industrial Processes, Department of Industrial Management and Technology, School of Maritime and Industry, University of Piraeus, 18534 Piraeus, Greece; csiontor@ 123456unipi.gr
                [2 ]Laboratory of Inorganic & Analytical Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece; tzwrtzia85@ 123456hotmail.com (G.-P.N.); stevekara@ 123456chem.uoa.gr (S.K.K.)
                [3 ]Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece
                Author notes
                [* ]Correspondence: nikolelis@ 123456chem.uoa.gr ; Tel.: +30-21-07-274-754
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2368-8234
                Article
                Publisher ID: membranes-07-00038
                DOI: 10.3390/membranes7030038
                PMC ID: 5618123
                PubMed ID: 28933723
                SO-VID: 1b8acc48-9f1e-49d5-b188-b0e69ad73c5f
                Copyright © © 2017 by the authors.
                License:

                Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                Date received : 14 June 2017
                Date accepted : 20 July 2017
                Categories
                Subject: Review

                Keywords: artificial lipid membranes,liposomes,langmuir-blodgett films,tethered membranes,self-assembly,nanoelectrodes,biosensors,drug delivery,ion channel monitoring,artificial cells
                Data availability:
                Keywords: artificial lipid membranes, liposomes, langmuir-blodgett films, tethered membranes, self-assembly, nanoelectrodes, biosensors, drug delivery, ion channel monitoring, artificial cells

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