In Situ Synthesis of Lipid Analogues Leading to Artificial Cell Growth and Division

The bottom-up construction of an artificial cell model system starting from inanimate components helps people better understand the working mechanism of cells. Phospholipids are natural components of the cell membrane system, which are widely used to construct artificial cells. However, it is difficult to synthesize natural phospholipids in situ. Chemically synthesized lipid analogues are similar in structure to natural phospholipids, so they can be used to mimic phospholipids to build vesicles. Here, four methods of the chemical synthesis of lipid analogues (including enzyme reactions, click chemistry reactions, native chemical ligation reactions, imine condensation and decomposition reactions) are described. The construction of artificial cells based on the lipid analogues, and their growth and division are also summarized. Finally, the challenges and future directions in the field of construction and division of artificial cells based on lipid analogues are proposed.