Abstract
Synthetic signal transduction is an exciting new research field that applies supramolecular chemistry in a membrane environment to provide insight into the physical processes involved in natural signal transduction and to open new opportunities in synthetic biology, for example the integration of artificial signaling pathways into cells. Although it is still a developing field, we discuss a selection of recent stimuli-responsive supramolecular constructs that, when embedded in the phospholipid bilayer, can mimic aspects of the behavior of different natural signaling proteins, including ligand-gated ion channels, G-protein coupled receptors and receptor tyrosine kinases. The lipid bilayer plays a key part in these biomimetic systems, as this complex anisotropic environment provides challenges both when designing supramolecular systems that function in the bilayer and when analyzing the data they provide. Nonetheless these recent studies have provided key insights into how the bilayer affects binding to, the conformation of, and catalysis by membrane-embedded supramolecular constructs. If successful, these model systems promise to be key components for bottom-up synthetic biology, the creation of artificial cells and devices starting from molecular components.
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Abbreviations
- Aib:
-
α-amino-iso-butyric acid
- ATP:
-
adenosine triphosphate
- CFTR:
-
cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator
- DET:
-
diethylenetriamine
- DMPC:
-
1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
- DNA:
-
deoxyribonucleic acid
- DOPC:
-
1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
- DOPE:
-
1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine
- DPPC:
-
1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
- E/M :
-
excimer/monomer
- EDTA:
-
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
- EGFR:
-
epidermal growth factor receptor
- FRET:
-
Förster resonance energy transfer
- GABA:
-
γ-aminobutyric acid
- GDP:
-
guanosine diphosphate
- GPCR:
-
G-protein coupled receptor
- GTP:
-
guanosine triphosphate
- h.e.:
-
helical excess
- HPTS:
-
8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid
- HRE:
-
hormone responsive element
- IR:
-
insulin receptor
- nAChR:
-
nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
- NMR:
-
nuclear magnetic resonance
- PA:
-
2-phenethylamine
- PBC:
-
planar bilayer conductance
- pLGIC:
-
pentameric ligand-gated ion channel
- RTK:
-
receptor tyrosine kinase
- SHR:
-
steroid hormone receptor
- ss-NMR:
-
solid state nuclear magnetic resonance
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FDS, DPT and SJW thank the EPSRC (grant EP/P027067/1) for financial support.
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della Sala, F., Tilly, D.P., Webb, S.J. (2021). Approaches Towards Synthetic Signal Transduction in Phospholipid Bilayers. In: J.M. Abadie, M., Pinteala, M., Rotaru, A. (eds) New Trends in Macromolecular and Supramolecular Chemistry for Biological Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57456-7_1
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