近日，美国加州大学圣地亚哥分校Neal K. Devaraj团队揭示非生物脂质代谢使人造细胞的膜具有可塑性。2025年5月22日出版的《自然-化学》杂志发表了这一最新研究成果。

活细胞膜的可塑性依赖于由细胞能量驱动的复杂代谢网络。这些代谢过程直接控制着细胞功能所必需的膜特性，如脂质组成和形态可塑性。尽管在开发模仿天然膜的人工系统方面取得了显著进展，但实现能够维持代谢循环的合成膜仍然是一个挑战。 

研究组介绍了一种非生物磷脂代谢网络，它产生并维持动态的人造细胞膜。化学偶联剂驱动瞬时稳定的非经典磷脂的原位合成，导致磷脂膜的形成和维持。他们发现磷脂代谢周期可以驱动脂质的自我选择，有利于特定脂质物种的富集。

此外，研究组证明，控制脂质代谢可以诱导可逆的膜相变，促进不同人群的人工膜之间的脂质混合。该工作表明，一个简单的脂质代谢网络可以驱动人工膜的动态行为，为工程功能合成室的机制提供了见解。

附：英文原文

Title: Abiotic lipid metabolism enables membrane plasticity in artificial cells

Author: Fracassi, Alessandro, Seoane, Andrs, Brea, Roberto J., Lee, Hong-Guen, Harjung, Alexander, Devaraj, Neal K.

Issue&Volume: 2025-05-22

Abstract: The plasticity of living cell membranes relies on complex metabolic networks fueled by cellular energy. These metabolic processes exert direct control over membrane properties such as lipid composition and morphological plasticity, which are essential for cellular functions. Despite notable progress in the development of artificial systems mimicking natural membranes, the realization of synthetic membranes capable of sustaining metabolic cycles remains a challenge. Here we present an abiotic phospholipid metabolic network that generates and maintains dynamic artificial cell membranes. Chemical coupling agents drive the in situ synthesis of transiently stable non-canonical phospholipids, leading to the formation and maintenance of phospholipid membranes. We find that phospholipid metabolic cycles can drive lipid self-selection, favouring the enrichment of specific lipid species. Moreover, we demonstrate that controlling lipid metabolism can induce reversible membrane phase transitions, facilitating lipid mixing between distinct populations of artificial membranes. Our work demonstrates that a simple lipid metabolic network can drive dynamic behaviour in artificial membranes, offering insights into mechanisms for engineering functional synthetic compartments.

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-025-01829-5

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-025-01829-5