Question 7: biosynthesis of phosphatidic acid in liposome compartments - toward the self-reproduction of minimal cells

Abstract

Self-reproduction is one of main properties that define living cells. In order to explore the self-reproduction process for the study of early cells, and to develop a research line somehow connected to the origin of life, we have built up a constructive 'synthetic cells (minimal cells)' approach. The minimal cells approach consists in the investigation of the minimal number of elements to accomplish simple cell-like processes - like self-reproduction. Such approach belongs to the field of synthetic biology. The minimal cells are reconstructed from a totally reconstituted cell-free protein synthesis system (PURESYSTEM) and liposome compartments as containers. Based on this approach, we synthesized two membrane proteins (enzymes), GPAT and LPAAT, which are involved in the phosphatidic acid biosynthesis in bacteria. Both membrane proteins were successfully synthesized by PURESYSTEM encapsulated inside POPC liposomes. Additionally, the enzymatic activity of GPAT was restored by mixing the expressed enzyme with lipid and by forming liposomes in situ. Through these experimental evidences, here we present a possible model to achieve self-reproduction in minimal cells. Our results would contribute to the idea that early cells could have been built by an extremely small number of genes.