Single Cell-like Systems Reveal Active Unidirectional and Light-Controlled Transport by Nanomachineries
Tim Diederichs, Robert Tampé
Abstract
Cellular life depends on transport and communication across membranes, which is emphasized by the fact that membrane proteins are prime drug targets. The cell-like environment of membrane proteins has gained increasing attention based on its important role in function and regulation. As a versatile scaffold for bottom-up synthetic biology and nanoscience, giant liposomes represent minimalistic models of living cells. Nevertheless, the incorporation of fragile multiprotein membrane complexes still remains a major challenge. Here, we report on an approach for the functional reconstitution of membrane assemblies exemplified by human and bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. We reveal that these nanomachineries transport substrates unidirectionally against a steep concentration gradient. Active substrate transport can be spatiotemporally resolved in single cell-like compartments by light, enabling real-time tracking of substrate export and import in individual liposomes. This approach will help to construct delicate artificial cell-like systems.