Abstract
Recent advances in droplet microfluidics have led to the fabrication of versatile vesicles with a structure that mimics the cellular membrane. These artificial cell-like vesicles including polymersomes and liposomes effectively enclose an aqueous core with well-defined size and composition from the surrounding environment to implement various biological reactions, serving as a diverse functional reactor. The advantage of realizing various biological phenomena within a compartment separated by a membrane that resembles a natural cell membrane is actively explored in the fields of synthetic biology as well as biomedical applications including drug delivery, biosensors, and bioreactors, to name a few. In this Perspective, we first summarize various methods utilized in producing these polymersomes and liposomes. Moreover, we will highlight some of the recent advances in the design of these artificial cell-like vesicles for functional bioreactors and discuss the current issues and future perspectives.
Highlights
Cells, the basic building blocks of life, are highly complex systems in which various biological reactions take place
We will highlight some of the recent advances in the design of these artificial cell-like vesicles for functional bioreactors and discuss the current issues and future perspectives
We have shown how complex coacervates and aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) have been implemented in artificial cell-like vesicles for mimicking cellular processes
Summary
The basic building blocks of life, are highly complex systems in which various biological reactions take place. Among these two artificial cell-like vesicles, polymersomes comprising an amphiphilic block copolymer with a hydrophobic block and a hydrophilic block can be tailored to a desired molecular weight and composition to yield vesicles with osmotic-pressure responsive properties[9] or complex structure with multi-compartments.[10] Due to these advantages, polymersomes encapsulating specific substances in the interior can be selectively released in response to external stimuli.[11,12] the versatility of these polymersomes is often offset by the low biocompatibility, thick membrane thickness, and incompatibility with membrane-bound proteins, which all lead to deviation from actual cell structure and function. This will be followed by the recent research outcomes and current issues, as well as future perspectives
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