A cell is the smallest unit of cellular life, but it is still highly complex on the molecular level. One critically important function of a cell is to perceive chemical information. This is achieved by using transmembrane proteins, termed signalling receptors, which connect input signals to the corresponding signalling events within the cell.

The Zelikin Lab works to recreate this process in artificial (non-biological) cells. Specifically, the group focuses on the development of methods to send chemical information across a sealed biomolecular membrane. In the manuscript just accepted to print in Nature Communications, they successfully designed such transmembrane signalling using tools of organic chemistry. Using these tools, they created model synthetic cells that respond to the external environment, such as biochemical cues or even inorganic materials, by turning on enzymatic catalysis.

These results open up opportunities to engineer synthetic cells that adapt to external environments, mimicking the hallmark behaviour of cells in nature.
 

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