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Transport among protocells via tunneling nanotubes

View ORCID ProfileIngrid Jin Schanke, View ORCID ProfileLin Xue, View ORCID ProfileKarolina Spustova, View ORCID ProfileIrep Gözen
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.16.460285
Ingrid Jin Schanke
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
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Lin Xue
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
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Karolina Spustova
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
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Irep Gözen
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, 0315 Oslo, Norway
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  • For correspondence: irep@uio.no
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Abstract

We employ model protocell networks for evaluation of molecular transport through lipid nanotubes as potential means of communication among primitive cells on the early Earth. Network formation is initiated by deposition of multilamellar lipid reservoirs onto a silicon oxide surface in an aqueous environment. These reservoirs autonomously develop into surface-adhered protocells interconnected via lipid nanotubes, and encapsulate solutes from the ambient buffer in the process. We prepare networks in the presence of DNA and RNA and observe encapsulation of these molecules, and their diffusive transport between the lipid compartments via the interconnecting nanotubes. By means of an analytical model we determine key physical parameters affecting the transport, such as nanotube diameter and compartment size. We conclude that nanotube-mediated transport in self-organized nanotube-vesicle networks could have been a possible pathway of chemical communication between primitive, self-assembled protocells under early earth conditions, circumventing the necessity for crossing the membrane barrier. We suggest this transport within a closed protocell network as a feasible means of RNA and DNA exchange under primitive prebiotic conditions, possibly facilitating early replication.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted September 18, 2021.
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Transport among protocells via tunneling nanotubes
Ingrid Jin Schanke, Lin Xue, Karolina Spustova, Irep Gözen
bioRxiv 2021.09.16.460285; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.16.460285
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Transport among protocells via tunneling nanotubes
Ingrid Jin Schanke, Lin Xue, Karolina Spustova, Irep Gözen
bioRxiv 2021.09.16.460285; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.16.460285

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