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Synthetic Biology in Aqueous Compartments at the Micro- and Nanoscale

Journal Article · · MRS Advances
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1557/adv.2017.489· OSTI ID:1394566
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2]
  1. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Bredesen Center
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Bredesen Center; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division
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Aqueous two-phase systems and related emulsion-based structures defined within micro- and nanoscale environments enable a bottom-up synthetic biological approach to mimicking the dynamic compartmentation of biomaterial that naturally occurs within cells. Model systems we have developed to aid in understanding these phenomena include on-demand generation and triggering of reversible phase transitions in ATPS confined in microscale droplets, morpho-logical changes in networks of femtoliter-volume aqueous droplet interface bilayers (DIBs) formulated in microfluidic channels, and temperature-driven phase transitions in interfacial lipid bilayer systems supported on micro and nanostructured substrates. For each of these cases, the dynamics were intimately linked to changes in the chemical potential of water, which becomes increasingly susceptible to confinement and crowding. At these length scales, where interfacial and surface areas predominate over compartment volumes, both evaporation and osmotic forces become enhanced relative to ideal dilute solutions. Finally, consequences of confinement and crowding in cell-sized microcompartments for increasingly complex scenarios will be discussed, from single-molecule mobility measurements with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to spatio-temporal modulation of resource sharing in cell-free gene expression bursting.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1394566
Journal Information:
MRS Advances, Journal Name: MRS Advances Journal Issue: 45 Vol. 2; ISSN 2059-8521; ISSN applab
Publisher:
Materials Research Society (MRS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (19)

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Cited By (2)

Chemical signatures of surface microheterogeneity on liquid mixtures journal January 2019
Self-Organization Controls Expression More than Abundance of Molecular Components of Transcription and Translation in Confined Cell-Free Gene Expression journal January 2018

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Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
biomaterial
biomimetic (assembly)
nanostructure