- Researchers at CiQUS (USC) have synthesized the spatial concept in the cytoskeleton, the sophisticated machinery that consists of molecular beams which sustain the cell enclosure and allow its movement
- This supramolecular chemistry work represents the first step to imitate the complex mechanisms which facilitate spatial reorganisation of the cell in natural systems
- The study, recently published in Angewandte and conducted in collaboration with scientists from the University of Cambridge, has important applications in gene therapy and helps broaden knowledge on the origin of life
“With our project for building the skeleton of synthetic cells, we have succeeded in controlling their scaffolding systems”. That is how Javier Montenegro, principal investigator at CiQUS (USC), sums up graphically the last finding of his group, which is working on creating an ‘artificial’ cytoskeleton in order to explain cell behaviour and evolution and make use of chemistry for solving biological problems. This work, published in Angewandte journal, constitutes a new important approach to the knowledge of the origin of life and opens the door to the imitation of the complex mechanisms of cell space reorganisation in natural systems. This discovery adds value to the progress in the study on our creation and gene therapy.
Architects of life with laboratory cells
Since the discovery of the cell as the smallest unit of life, the scientific community has always been fascinated by the complex abilities to adapt, move and divide of cell systems, which can do all that autonomously. A key component of these processes is the cytoskeleton, a sophisticated cell machinery that builds molecular strips that are capable of sustaining and moving the cell enclosure. A fundamental requirement is that these strips are assembled in well-defined regions so that directional work can be generated.
“Our research group has discovered how we can control molecular assembling of synthetic analogues thanks to well-defined conditions and spaces. To this end, we have used assembling techniques based on microfluidics (devices in which liquids are mixed in channels with a diameter less than one millimetre) for attaching, under different conditions, strips in the periphery or in the core of microdroplets of water in oil”, explains Javier Montenegro.
The cell bone
Just like human skeleton determines the shape of our body and enables us to stand upright, the cytoskeleton gives structural integrity to the cell and also takes part in the cell division, in its movement and in the transport of substances within it. "In our research line, on which we have been working for several years, we analyse the importance for cells to have a cytoskeleton. Because this bone assembly was not always part of cells. In fact, up until about two decades ago, it was believed to have appeared at a late stage of evolution”, justifies CiQUS PI. But it has been proved that it existed in some bacteria and in early cells, causing a “great scientific stir”.
The team led by Montenegro tries to understand how it works by building it in the laboratory and, thus, observe the problems it may encounter, why sometimes it does not work, why it does not work in the same way if a part of it is minimally modified, etc. “We follow a bottom-upapproach by artificially producing essential components and observing how they behave", explains the Galician chemist.
As part of this international collaboration, Dr. Alejandro Méndez-Ardoy travelled to the University of Cambridge in order to learn the techniques for microfluidic manipulation with Prof. Chris Abell, and thus precisely control the stimuli of supramolecular polymerization. Back in Santiago, and under the supervision of Prof. Juan Granja and Dr. Javier Montenegro, PhD student Alfonso Bayón and Dr. Méndez Ardoy completed the work that is now included in one of the best chemistry journals at international level (Angewandte Chemie International edition). This recently published work reinforces the foundations of the cell building and answers questions of utmost importance for human life.
