Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PROGRAMED PROTOCELLS (Design and construction of programmed protocells for intercellular networks and biomimetic communications)
Période du rapport: 2021-08-01 au 2023-07-31
The intention behind the construction of these cell-like mimics is to understand the origin of life from non-living constituents and bridge the gap between chemistry and biology. The motivation for this project comes from understanding Nature. This field is of utmost importance for understanding the process behind evolution and the role chemistry plays in it.
Objectives of this Marie Skłodowska Curie Action (MSCA) is are) to design, develop, and construct self-organized protocellular communities that encapsulate intricate enzymatic reaction networks and capable of spontaneous and cooperative operation, akin to living cells behaviour, (ii) incorporating several essential functions within these protocellular communities such as the selective formation of protocellular consortia and mimicking critical biological functions, thereby enhancing the complexity of the protocellular constructs achieving proto-colonies, (iii) applying the principles of organic synthesis, supramolecular chemistry and out-of-equilibrium self-assembly to the interdisciplinary and evolving field of protocells. Ultimately, these research efforts intend to realize programmable protocells capable of active self-assembly, spatiotemporal self-sorting, self-regulation and higher-order organization and function. Overall, the aim is to push the boundaries of chemistry to understand and mimic biology. In parallel, the goal of the MSCA Individual Fellowship is to foster the personal growth and scientific independence of the Fellow (me).
During the work on research projects, the fellow has trained several masters (thesis defended in summer 2022) and bachelor (project report submitted in 2022 and 2023) students which has led to successful projects. She has also been involved in summer school and guidance of PhD students. The fellow has received training in the construction of various kinds of artificial cells and compartments like liquid-liquid phase separated coacervates, colloidosomes, capsules, giant unilamellar vesicles (at Prof. Stephen Mann’s Lab, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol), fluorescence and confocal fluorescence microscopy, also got training in handling living cells like yeast and bacteria. The project and results have led to many new fruitful collaborations which could lead to impactful research output in the near future.
Results of the fellow’s research will be reported in manuscripts (3 manuscripts in preparation, 2 projects which require some more supporting data), research seminars and conferences. This work has already been presented at two conferences (Syncell 2022 and Gordon Research Conference on Supramolecular Chemistry and Self-assembly 2023) via poster and invited oral presentations. Our research was also popularized by various research seminars where the outcomes were highly appreciated.