PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Steinkühler, Jan
AU  - Abrahamson, Charlotte H.
AU  - Agudo-Canalejo, Jaime
AU  - Golestanian, Ramin
AU  - Tullman-Ercek, Danielle
AU  - Kamat, Neha P.
TI  - Enzymatically-active bacterial microcompartments follow substrate gradients and are protected from aggregation in a cell-free system
AID  - 10.1101/2022.05.16.492142
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.05.16.492142
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/17/2022.05.16.492142.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/17/2022.05.16.492142.full
AB  - The ability to dynamically control organelle movement and position is essential for cellular function. Yet the underlying mechanisms driving this organization have not been fully resolved. Here, we draw from recent experimental observations and theoretical models of enzyme chemotaxis to demonstrate the chemotaxis of a bacterial organelle, the 1,2 propanediol (1,2-PD) utilization bacterial microcompartment (MCP) from Salmonella enterica. Upon encapsulating MCPs in a cell-like, biomimetic compartment, we observed the directed movement of MCPs along an external gradient of substrate. Our analysis shows that MCPs not only chemotax towards their substrate but also that enzymatic activity and substrate turnover protect them against large-scale aggregation. Our results provide a first experimental demonstration of organelle chemotaxis in a synthetic cellular system and support a recent theoretical model of chemotaxis. Together this work reveals a potentially significant driver of organelle organization while contributing to the construction of synthetic cell-like materials.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.