Formation of Protocell-like Vesicles in a Thermal Diffusion Column
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Many of the properties of bilayer membranes composed of simple single-chain amphiphiles seem to be well-suited for a potential role as primitive cell membranes. However, the spontaneous formation of membranes from such amphiphiles is a concentration-dependent process in which a significant critical aggregate concentration (cac) must be reached. Since most scenarios for the prebiotic synthesis of fatty acids and related amphiphiles would result in dilute solutions well below the cac, the identification of mechanisms that would lead to increased local amphiphile concentrations is an important aspect of defining reasonable conditions for the origin of cellular life. Narrow, vertically oriented channels within the mineral precipitates of hydrothermal vent towers have previously been proposed to act as natural Clusius-Dickel thermal diffusion columns, in which a strong transverse thermal gradient concentrates dilute molecules through the coupling of thermophoresis and convection. Here we experimentally demonstrate that a microcapillary acting as a thermal diffusion column can concentrate a solution of oleic acid. Upon concentration, self-assembly of large vesicles occurs in regions where the cac is exceeded. We detected vesicle formation by fluorescence microscopy of encapsulated dye cargoes, which simultaneously concentrated in our channels. Our findings suggest a novel means by which simple physical processes could have led to the spontaneous formation of cell-like structures from a dilute prebiotic reservoir.
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Laboratory experiments using glass capillaries as analogs of porous rock channels have shown the simultaneous concentration of dilute fatty acids and DNA, leading to the assembly of vesicles with encapsulated DNA near the bottom of the capillary tube.
“Laboratory experiments using glass capillaries as analogs of porous rock channels have shown the simultaneous concentration of dilute fatty acids and DNA, leading to the assembly of vesicles with encapsulated DNA near the bottom of the capillary tube (Budin et al. 2009).”
From Protocells and RNA Self-Replication (2018) · cites this paper as Budin et al. 2009
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Peptide–Oleate Complexes Create Novel Membrane-Bound Compartments
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Heat‐Flow‐Driven Nonequilibria for Prebiotic Chemistry
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THERMAL SOLUTIONS FOR MOLECULAR EVOLUTION
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- Authors
- Budin, I., Bruckner, R. J., & Szostak, J. W.
- Affiliations
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Szostak, Jack W.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2009-06-24
- Volume
- 131
- Issue
- 28
- Pages
- 9628-9629
- ISSN
- 0002-7863 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5126
- PMC
- PMC2710859
- OpenAlex
- W2033636230
- Cited by
- 132
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 6.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of the American Chemical Society (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Keywords
- protocells, vesicle formation, thermal diffusion column, thermophoresis, microcapillaries, oleic acid, amphiphile self-assembly, origin of life, bilayer membranes, microconvection
- MeSH terms
- Cells, Membranes, Artificial, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Temperature, Silicates, Oleic Acid, Biomimetics, Thermal Diffusion
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
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