The basic components of cells can operate within the bounds of inorganic membranes made from nanoparticles, a new study shows. The authors say such membranes provide an alternative model for explaining how the first cells evolved from simple, inorganic molecules.
Chemists created silicon-based membranes with hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties akin to those of lipid bilayers in natural cells. Nanoparticles self-assembled in oil to form ‘protocells’, enclosing drops of water inside porous silicon shells. ‘What was really interesting was that not only could we stabilise the droplets – which had been shown before – but that the nanoparticle-based shell could be considered as a primitive, semi-permeable inorganic membrane,’ says Stephen Mann, one of the researchers based at the University of Bristol, UK.
A simple reaction to functionalise the surface of the nanoparticle-stabilised droplets prevents entrapped biomolecules escaping into the water around them
To produce the desired water-loving/hating membrane, the researchers functionalised the surface of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles with silanol and dimethylsilane groups. Shaking the nanoparticles in oil and water made them pack together at the oil-water interface. According to Mann, the approach is simpler than chemical syntheses required to make artificial phospholipids, which are often used in artificial cell membranes…
To read more please visit the Chemistry World website, or you can download the Chemical Science Edge Article, which is free to access until the end of 2011!
