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Spontaneous Crowding of Ribosomes and Proteins inside Vesicles: A Possible Mechanism for the Origin of Cell Metabolism
Author(s) -
Pereira de Souza Tereza,
Steiniger Frank,
Stano Pasquale,
Fahr Alfred,
Luisi Pier Luigi
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.201100306
Subject(s) - compartment (ship) , vesicle , ribosome , protocell , metabolism , biophysics , cellular compartment , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , biology , biochemistry , chemistry , membrane , rna , oceanography , gene , geology
One of the open questions in the origin of life is the spontaneous formation of primitive cell‐like compartments from free molecules in solution and membranes. “Metabolism‐first” and “replicator‐first” theories claim that early catalytic cycles first evolved in solution, and became encapsulated inside lipid vesicles later on. “Compartment‐first” theories suggest that metabolism progressively occurred inside compartments. Both views have some weaknesses: the low probability of co‐entrapment of several compounds inside the same compartment, and the need to control nutrient uptake and waste release, respectively. By using lipid vesicles as early‐cell models, we show that ribosomes, proteins and lipids spontaneously self‐organise into cell‐like compartments to achieve high internal concentrations, even when starting from dilute solutions. These findings suggest that the assembly of cell‐like compartments, despite its low probability of occurrence, is indeed a physically realistic process. The spontaneous achievement of high local concentration might provide a rational account for the origin of primitive cellular metabolism.