2. Academic Validation
  3. An inorganic mineral-based protocell with prebiotic radiation fitness

An inorganic mineral-based protocell with prebiotic radiation fitness

  • Nat Commun. 2023 Dec 5;14(1):7699. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43272-5.
Shang Dai # 1 2,  Zhenming Xie # 1,  Binqiang Wang # 1,  Rui Ye # 3,  Xinwen Ou 3,  Chen Wang 4,  Ning Yu 1,  Cheng Huang 1,  Jie Zhao 1,  Chunhui Cai 1,  Furong Zhang 1,  Damiano Buratto 1 3,  Taimoor Khan 1 3,  Yan Qiao 5,  Yuejin Hua 6 7 8,  Ruhong Zhou 9 10 11 12,  Bing Tian 13 14
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute of Biophysics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 2 Shanghai Institute for Advanced Study of Zhejiang University, Shanghai, China.
  • 3 School of Physics, Institute of Quantitative Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 4 College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 5 Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. yanqiao@iccas.ac.cn.
  • 6 Institute of Biophysics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. yjhua@zju.edu.cn.
  • 7 Qian Xuesen Collaborative Research Center of Astrochemistry and Space Life Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China. yjhua@zju.edu.cn.
  • 8 Cancer Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. yjhua@zju.edu.cn.
  • 9 Institute of Biophysics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. rhzhou@zju.edu.cn.
  • 10 Shanghai Institute for Advanced Study of Zhejiang University, Shanghai, China. rhzhou@zju.edu.cn.
  • 11 School of Physics, Institute of Quantitative Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. rhzhou@zju.edu.cn.
  • 12 Cancer Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. rhzhou@zju.edu.cn.
  • 13 Institute of Biophysics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. tianbing@zju.edu.cn.
  • 14 Cancer Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. tianbing@zju.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 38052788 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43272-5
Abstract

Protocell fitness under extreme prebiotic conditions is critical in understanding the origin of life. However, little is known about protocell's survival and fitness under prebiotic radiations. Here we present a radioresistant protocell model based on assembly of two types of coacervate droplets, which are formed through interactions of inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) with divalent metal cation and cationic tripeptide, respectively. Among the coacervate droplets, only the polyP-Mn droplet is radiotolerant and provides strong protection for recruited proteins. The radiosensitive polyP-tripeptide droplet sequestered with both proteins and DNA could be encapsulated inside the polyP-Mn droplet, and form into a compartmentalized protocell. The protocell protects the inner nucleoid-like condensate through efficient reactive oxygen species' scavenging capacity of intracellular nonenzymic Antioxidants including Mn-phosphate and Mn-peptide. Our results demonstrate a radioresistant protocell model with redox reaction system in response to ionizing radiation, which might enable the protocell fitness to prebiotic radiation on the primitive Earth preceding the emergence of enzyme-based fitness. This protocell might also provide applications in synthetic biology as bioreactor or drug delivery system.

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