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Article Dans Une Revue ChemSystemsChem Année : 2021

Fatty Acid Vesicles and Coacervates as Model Prebiotic Protocells

Résumé

The prebiotic organization of chemicals into compartmentalized ensembles is an essential step to understand the transition from inert molecules to living matter. Compartmentalization is indeed a central property of living systems. Fatty acids represent the simplest prebiotic amphiphiles capable of self-assembling into membrane-bound vesicles, and have therefore emerged as valuable molecules to create models of protocellular compartments. Here, the main experimental findings that support this idea are reviewed, together with approaches to increase the stability of fatty acid vesicles in adverse pH, salt or temperature conditions. Recent studies on the self-assembly of fatty acids into membrane-free coacervate micro-droplets are then discussed, providing a promising new paradigm for prebiotic compartmentalization. We last argue that the unique possibility of cycling between fatty acid vesicles and coacervates paves the way to an exciting new hypothesis for the emergence of the first living protocells.
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hal-03384870 , version 1 (19-10-2021)

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Nicolas Martin, Jean‐paul Douliez. Fatty Acid Vesicles and Coacervates as Model Prebiotic Protocells. ChemSystemsChem, 2021, 3, pp.e2100024. ⟨10.1002/syst.202100024⟩. ⟨hal-03384870⟩
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