ENZYMATIC RNA-SYNTHESIS IN SELF-REPRODUCING VESICLES - AN APPROACH TOTHE CONSTRUCTION OF A MINIMAL SYNTHETIC CELL

Our approach towards ''core-and-shell self-reproduction'' is reviewed here. With this term, we indicate a process by which the shell-reprodu ction of a spherically bounded system (micelles or vesicles) proceeds simultaneously with the replication of nucleic acid which is hosted in side the micelles or vesicles. The realization of such a process is se en as a step towards the construction of a synthetic cell model. Two c hemical systems are examined here, one based on the polynucleotide pho sphorylase-catalyzed synthesis of poly(A) starting from ADP; and the o ther based on the enzyme Q(beta) replicase, which is able to catalyze the synthesis of a RNA template. In both cases, production of RNA macr omolecules proceeds simultaneously with self-reproduction of the oleic acid/oleate vesicles. One still open question is the determination of the redistribution of the guest macromolecular components during the reproduction of the shell. Within these limits, it is argued that this work offers a system which goes beyond the two approaches to self-rep lication presented until now in the literature, namely the template se lf-reproduction of linear sequences of oligonucleotides and the autopo ietic shell reproduction of micelles and vesicles.