Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31482118›Full record

ArticleACS central science2019

Mimicking Cellular Compartmentalization in a Hierarchical Protocell through Spontaneous Spatial Organization.

Alexander F Mason, N Amy Yewdall, Pascal L W Welzen, Jingxin Shao, Marleen van Stevendaal, Jan C M van Hest, David S Williams, Loai K E A Abdelmohsen

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in ACS central science, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Patchy Membrane-Directed Multiphase Complex Coacervation.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Engineering Motile Coacervate Droplets via Nanomotor Stabilization.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Are redox catalytic reaction rates accelerated in microdroplets on electrode surfaces?Journal of solid state electrochemistry : current research and development in science and technology · 2025
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Peptide-Induced Division of Polymersomes for Biomimetic Compartmentalization.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2024
    Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Alexander F MasonDepartment of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
N Amy YewdallDepartment of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Pascal L W WelzenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Jingxin ShaoDepartment of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Marleen van StevendaalDepartment of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Jan C M van HestDepartment of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
David S WilliamsDepartment of Chemistry, College of Science, Swansea University, Singleton Campus, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, United Kingdom.
Loai K E A AbdelmohsenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A systemic feature of eukaryotic cells is the spatial organization of functional components through compartmentalization. Developing protocells with compartmentalized synthetic organelles is, therefore, a critical milestone toward emulating one of the core characteristics of cellular life. Here we demonstrate the bottom-up, multistep, noncovalent, assembly of rudimentary subcompartmentalized protocells through the spontaneous encapsulation of semipermeable, polymersome proto-organelles inside cell-sized coacervates. The coacervate microdroplets are membranized using tailor-made terpolymers, to complete the hierarchical self-assembly of protocells, a system that mimics both the condensed cytosol and the structure of a cell membrane. In this way, the spatial organization of enzymes can be finely tuned, leading to an enhancement of functionality. Moreover, incompatible components can be sequestered in the same microenvironments without detrimental effect. The robust stability of the subcompartmentalized coacervate protocells in biocompatible milieu, such as in PBS or cell culture media, makes it a versatile platform to be extended toward studies in vitro, and perhaps, in vivo.

Identifiers

PMID31482118
PMCPMC6716124

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.