Building stimuli-responsive primitive cells – ResponCell

Despite being self-sustaining units of life, cells do not live in isolation. Due to selective membrane permeability, cell survival depends on the ability of membrane-bound biological machinery to regulate the active transport of solutes, process information received from the environment, and mediate intercellular communication. In contrast, on early Earth, unselectively permeable membranes would have formed from the spontaneous self-assembly of prebiotic amphiphiles and supported the passive diffusion of any polar and ionic solutes. However, at a later stage in the evolutionary timeline, membranes made of more complex lipids likely emerged to sustain the generation of chemical gradients, required for sensory processes, transport of metabolites and the synthesis of high-energy molecules (e.g. ATP). Therefore, prebiotic transporters and transducers would have been indispensable for any primitive cell (or protocell) to regulate nutrient uptake and waste disposal, and establish a primitive cellular communication network.
My project aims to build communities of protocells capable of sustaining transmembrane trafficking. First, I will explore the prebiotic chemical space, designing prebiotically plausible peptide-based modules able to modulate transmembrane trafficking in an active, controlled and selective way. In parallel, I will expand our knowledge of how functionalised protocells might have driven chemical reactions in response to environmental stimuli. I will thus exploit these insights to build stimuli-responsive protocells with life-like functionalities, further delineating the trajectory that connects prebiotic chemistry with modern biology.