DNA-mediated inducible liposome fusion
Presented by: Judee Sharon
University of Minnesota
Contributed Talk
Abstract
JUDEE SHARON
Title: DNA-mediated inducible liposome fusion
The fusion of lipid membranes play an important role in biological processes. In synthetic cell systems, being able to mimic membrane fusion brings the field one step closer to creating a "living" cell. Targeted fusion between two unique synthetic cells, based on the mechanism of SNARE proteins, is well established. However, this type of fusion is temporally-limited, preventing an increase in the complexity of reactions possible within syncell systems. In this research, we present an inducible version of membrane fusion that allows unique syncells to fuse at the user-specified time point. Through the use of biologically-relevant i-motifs, added independently, DNA-embedded syncells are brought to a proximity that energetically favors bilayer fusion and content exchange.