ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-10-04DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400055
Rif Harris, Nofar Berman, Ayala Lampel
{"title":"Charge-Mediated Interactions Affect Enzymatic Reactions in Peptide Condensates","authors":"Rif Harris, Nofar Berman, Ayala Lampel","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400055","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Biomolecular condensates, formed through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), serve as enzymatic reaction centers in cells by increasing local concentrations of enzymes and substrates, thereby facilitating reaction kinetics and regulatory mechanisms. Inspired by these natural systems, synthetic condensates are being developed for diverse applications, including payload delivery, sensing, and as microreactors where enzymatic reaction kinetics can be modulated by factors like pH, viscosity, and enzyme-substrate co-localization. Here, we investigate how the physicochemical properties of enzymes and substrates influence condensate formation and function as microreactors. Focusing on cellulase and alkaline phosphatase, which differ in molecular weight and isoelectric point, we employed a minimalistic complex coacervation system of oppositely charged LLPS-promoting peptides. Our findings show how electrostatic forces within condensates influence their role as microreactors. Specifically, the ability of condensates to encapsulate or exclude phosphatase, cellulase, and their substrates, which is pivotal for the regulation of reaction kinetics, is determined by the enzyme surface charge, substrate charge, and condensate charge stoichiometry. These results highlight the potential of utilizing electrostatic forces within condensates to modulate enzymatic reactions, providing critical insights for developing synthetic condensates as microreactors in biotechnology and materials science.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400055","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143111993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-09-19DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400054
Prof. Pier Luigi Gentili, Prof. Pasquale Stano
{"title":"Empowering Chemical AI Through Systems Chemistry","authors":"Prof. Pier Luigi Gentili, Prof. Pasquale Stano","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400054","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This work presents some ambitious perspectives on how Systems Chemistry can contribute to developing the quite new research line of Chemical Artificial Intelligence (CAI). CAI refers to the efforts of devising liquid chemical systems mimicking some performances of biological and human intelligence, which ultimately emerge from wetware. The CAI systems implemented so far assist humans in making decisions. However, such CAI systems lack autonomy and cannot substitute humans. The development of autonomous chemical systems will allow the colonization of the molecular world with remarkable repercussions on human well-being. As a beneficial side effect, this research line will help establish a deeper comprehension of the mesmerizing phenomenon of the origin of life on Earth and how cognitive capabilities emerge at a basic physico-chemical level.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"6 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400054","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142666094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400051
Luca Valer, Yin Juan Hu, Alberto Cini, Marco Lantieri, Craig R. Walton, Oliver Shorttle, Maria Fittipaldi, Sheref S. Mansy
{"title":"Prebiotic Environmental Conditions Impact the Type of Iron-Sulfur Cluster Formed","authors":"Luca Valer, Yin Juan Hu, Alberto Cini, Marco Lantieri, Craig R. Walton, Oliver Shorttle, Maria Fittipaldi, Sheref S. Mansy","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400051","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Iron-sulfur clusters are ancient cofactors that could have played a role in the prebiotic chemistry leading to the emergence of protometabolism. Previous research has shown that certain iron-sulfur clusters can form from prebiotically plausible components, such as cysteine-containing oligopeptides. However, it is unclear if these iron-sulfur clusters could have survived in prebiotically plausible environments. To begin exploring this possibility, we tested the stability of iron-sulfur clusters coordinated to a tripeptide and to <i>N</i>-acetyl-L-cysteine methyl ester in a variety of solutions meant to mimic prebiotically plausible environments. We also assessed the impact of individual chemical components on stability. We find that iron-sulfur clusters form over a wide variety of conditions but that the type of iron-sulfur cluster formed is strongly impacted by the chemical environment and the coordinating scaffold. These findings support the general hypothesis that iron-sulfur clusters were present on the prebiotic Earth and that different types of iron-sulfur cluster predominated in different environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400051","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143116266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-09-13DOI: 10.1002/syst.202480501
Dr. Pamela Knoll, Dr. Corentin C. Loron
{"title":"Front Cover: Effect of Temperature on Calcium-Based Chemical Garden Growth (ChemSystemsChem 5/2024)","authors":"Dr. Pamela Knoll, Dr. Corentin C. Loron","doi":"10.1002/syst.202480501","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202480501","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The cover picture shows a scanning electron micrograph of self-organized chemical garden tubes. These calcium-based hollow structures are composed of porous walls separating an alkaline exterior liquid and acidic, metal salt interior solution. Natural analogs to this classic chemistry experiment are hydrothermal vents found at the base of the ocean. Their structures are composed of mineral walls which separate two disparate chemical environments maintaining a far-from-equilibrium setting. More in theResearch Article by Pamela Knoll and Corentin C. Loron.\u0000 <figure>\u0000 <div><picture>\u0000 <source></source></picture><p></p>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </figure>\u0000 </p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"6 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202480501","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142233126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Oscillations of the Local pH Reverses Silver Micromotors in H2O2","authors":"Xianghong Liu, Yixin Peng, Zuyao Yan, Dezhou Cao, Shifang Duan, Wei Wang","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400046","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Asymmetric chemical reactions on the surfaces of colloidal particles are known to propel them into directional motion. The dynamics of such chemical micromotors are sensitive to their local chemical environments, which also continually evolve with the reactions on motor surfaces. This two-way coupling between the motor dynamics and the local environment may result in complex nonlinear behaviors. As an example, we report that Janus Ag microspheres, which self-propel in hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>), spontaneously reverse their direction of motion two or more times. We hypothesize that two distinct chemical reactions between Ag and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> drive the micromotor in opposite directions, and which reaction dominates depends on the local pH. Interestingly, the local pH near a Ag micromotor oscillates spontaneously in H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, likely due to a complex interplay between the kinetics of the reaction between Ag and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> and the diffusion of chemical species. Consequently, the pH-sensitive Ag micromotor reverses its direction of motion in response to these pH oscillations. This study introduces a new mechanism for regulating the speed and directionality of micromotors, highlights the potential of Ag micromotors in chemical sensing, and sheds new light on the interplay between chemical kinetics and micromotor dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"6 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142665742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400053
Panna E. Farkas, Emese Lantos, Dezső Horváth, Agota Tóth
{"title":"Transport-Limited Growth of Flow-Driven Rare-Earth Silicate Tubes","authors":"Panna E. Farkas, Emese Lantos, Dezső Horváth, Agota Tóth","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400053","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The injection of rare-earth metal salt solutions into sodium silicate solution results in vertically growing tubular precipitate structures. At low input concentrations reaction kinetics is the rate-detemining process, leading to linear growth rates independent of injection rates. At higher concentrations, flow drives the precipitate growth, characterized by jetting mechanism. Among the studied rare-earth metal silicates, dysprosium silicate is found to have the most rigid structure with visible growth even at higher injection rates. The outer surface of the hollow tubes is smooth, on which rare-earth hydroxide – based on the result of the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements – aggregates into globules.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"6 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142665995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-08-26DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400060
Zhenfang Cheng, Ling Yuan, Hui Wang, Haodi Yu, Meng Zhang, Irving R Epstein, Tan Gao, Lin Ren, Qingyu Gao
{"title":"Performance Comparison of Traditional, Nanopolymerized, and Entangled Belousov−Zhabotinsky Self-Oscillating Gels","authors":"Zhenfang Cheng, Ling Yuan, Hui Wang, Haodi Yu, Meng Zhang, Irving R Epstein, Tan Gao, Lin Ren, Qingyu Gao","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400060","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Belousov−Zhabotinsky (BZ) self-oscillating gels exhibit periodic volumetric swelling−deswelling, providing the basis for autonomous soft robots without external control. However, traditional BZ self-oscillating gels suffer from degradation and slow chemo−mechanical response. Here, three types of BZ self-oscillating gels were prepared by adjusting the monomer/crosslinker ratio and using N-isopropylacrylamide nanogels as crosslinker. Compared with traditional gels, the toughness of nanopolymerized and entangled gels was markedly improved and their response to the Ru (III)/Ru (II) alternation was accelerated. The three self-oscillating gels showed different periodic responses in a BZ reaction solution. Entangled gels, as a result of their greater spatial uniformity in energy dissipation and enhanced interconnection between mesopores, respectively, showed the longest lifetime and shortest chemo-mechanical oscillation delay. The synthesis of tougher and faster responding entangled gels expands the function and application of BZ self-oscillating gels.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143119445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-08-21DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400056
Iris B. A. Smokers, Brent S. Visser, Dr. Wojciech P. Lipiński, Dr. Karina K. Nakashima, Dr. Evan Spruijt
{"title":"Phase-Separated Droplets Can Direct the Kinetics of Chemical Reactions Including Polymerization, Self-Replication and Oscillating Networks","authors":"Iris B. A. Smokers, Brent S. Visser, Dr. Wojciech P. Lipiński, Dr. Karina K. Nakashima, Dr. Evan Spruijt","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400056","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Phase-separated compartments can localize (bio)chemical reactions and influence their kinetics. They are believed to play an important role both in extant life in the form of biomolecular condensates and at the origins of life as coacervate protocells. However, experimentally testing the influence of coacervates on different reactions is challenging and time-consuming. We therefore use a numerical model to explore the effect of phase-separated droplets on the kinetics and outcome of different chemical reaction systems, where we vary the coacervate volume and partitioning of reactants. We find that the rate of bimolecular reactions has an optimal dilute/coacervate phase volume ratio for a given reactant partitioning. Furthermore, coacervates can accelerate polymerization and self-replication reactions and lead to formation of longer polymers. Lastly, we find that coacervates can ‘rescue’ oscillating reaction networks in concentration regimes where sustained oscillations do not occur in a single-phase system. Our results indicate that coacervates can direct the outcome of a wide range of reactions and impact fundamental aspects such as yield, reaction pathway selection, product length and emergent functions. This may have far-reaching implications for origins of life, synthetic cells and the fate and function of biological condensates.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400056","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143117525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-08-02DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400039
Christof B. Mast
{"title":"Heat-Flow-Driven Nonequilibria for Prebiotic Chemistry","authors":"Christof B. Mast","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The origin of life, being one of the most fascinating questions in science, is increasingly addressed by interdisciplinary research. In addition to developing plausible chemical models for synthesizing the first biomolecules from prebiotic building blocks, searching for suitable and plausible non-equilibrium boundary conditions that drive such reactions is thus a central task in this endeavor. This perspective highlights the remarkably simple yet versatile scenario of heat flows in geologically plausible crack-like compartments as a habitat for prebiotic chemistry. Based on our recent findings, it is discussed how thermophoretically driven systems offer insights into solving key milestones in the origin of life research, such as the template inhibition problem, prebiotic symmetry breaking, and the promotion of prebiotic chemistry by selective enrichment of biochemical precursors. Our results on molecular-selective thermogravitational accumulation, heat flow-induced pH gradients, and environmental cycles are put in the context of other approaches to non-equilibrium systems and prebiotic chemistry. The coupling of heat flows to chemical and physical boundary conditions thus opens up numerous future experimental research avenues, such as the extraction of phosphate from geomaterials or the integration of chemical reaction networks into thermal non-equilibrium systems, offering a promising framework for advancing the field of prebiotic chemistry.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"6 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400039","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142233166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ChemSystemsChemPub Date : 2024-07-29DOI: 10.1002/syst.202400026
Dr. Marek Bekir, Dr. Johannes Gurke, Dr. Martin Reifarth
{"title":"Photoswitchable Surfactants–Are there Alternatives to Azobenzene-Based Systems?","authors":"Dr. Marek Bekir, Dr. Johannes Gurke, Dr. Martin Reifarth","doi":"10.1002/syst.202400026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/syst.202400026","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Owing to their property to alter their surface-activity upon the irradiation with light, photoswitchable surfactants have gained tremendous interest in colloidal science. Their mere addition to a colloidal system allows, e. g., to obtain control over polyelectrolytes, micro- and nanoscale particles or emulsions. Most literature examples focus on azobenzene-based, or related, systems, which employ a photoisomerization reaction for switching. Other structures, such as spiropyrans, play a subordinate role, although they have gained increasing attention over the past few years. In this perspective article, we want to provide an overview about existing systems of photoswitchable surfactants. We address the issue that alternative photoswitches are given less attention, and what benefits surfactants could possess that are based on said switchable units. With our contribution, we want to broaden the view on stimuli-responsive surfactants – and to provide a guideline for the design of novel structures.</p>","PeriodicalId":72566,"journal":{"name":"ChemSystemsChem","volume":"6 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/syst.202400026","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142233177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}