High-Throughput Synthesis and Screening of Functional Coacervates Using Microfluidics

Thomas Beneyton (1) , Celina Love , Mathias Girault (1) , T.-y Dora Tang , Jean-Christophe Baret (1, 2)

1 CRPP - Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal
2 IUF - Institut universitaire de France

To understand how membrane-free subcompartmentalization can modulate biochemical reactions by coupled spatial enzyme localization with substrate and product partitioning, we use microfluidic strategies to synthesize, stabilize and characterize micron-sized functional coacervates in waterÀ oil emulsions. Our methodologies have allowed for the first time to quantitatively characterize partition coefficients of a broad range of different molecules with different coacervate chemistries and to measure reaction rates of individual subcompartments and their surrounding aqueous environment at the single coacervate level. Our results show that sub-compartmentalisation increases the overall rates of reactions. This bottom-up synthetic strategy for the production of synthetic organelles offers a physical model for membrane-free compartmentalization in biology and provides insights into the role of sub-compartmentalisation in regulating out-of-equilibrium behaviours in biological systems.

Domains: Soft Condensed Matter [cond-mat.soft]; Material chemistry; Polymers; Biomaterials

Thomas Beneyton, Celina Love, Mathias Girault, T.-y Dora Tang, Jean-Christophe Baret. High-Throughput Synthesis and Screening of Functional Coacervates Using Microfluidics. ChemSystemsChem, 2020, ⟨10.1002/syst.202000022⟩. ⟨hal-02870965⟩