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Stabilization of All‐in‐Water Emulsions To Form Capsules as Artificial Cells
Author(s) -
Douliez JeanPaul,
Perro Adeline,
Béven Laure
Publication year - 2019
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.201900196
Subject(s) - polymersome , artificial cell , coacervate , coalescence (physics) , emulsion , protocell , membrane , nanotechnology , liposome , materials science , polymer , chemistry , chemical engineering , amphiphile , chromatography , copolymer , biology , organic chemistry , biochemistry , astrobiology , engineering
Building artificial cells through a bottom‐up approach is a remarkable challenge that would be of interest for our understanding of the origin of life, research into the minimal conditions required for life, the formation of bioreactors, and for industrial applications. To date, capsules such as liposomes, including polymersomes, are widely used, but the low membrane permeability and method to encapsulate biological materials within these structures hamper their use. By contrast, all‐in‐water emulsion droplets, including coacervate droplets, are promising compartments, mainly because they can spontaneously sequester chemicals. However, they lack a membrane necessary to control exchange between the inner and outer media. Moreover, droplets tend to coalesce with time, yielding macroscopic phase separation that is deleterious for any use as artificial cells. Recent advances, which are reviewed herein, have shown that such droplets can be stabilized by using lipid membranes, liposomes, polymers, proteins, and particles, and thus, preventing coalescence. Finally, different strategies that could allow the future development of artificial cells from these stabilized all‐in‐water emulsion droplets are discussed.