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Modelling Approach to Enzymatic pH Oscillators in Giant Lipid Vesicles

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Advances in Bionanomaterials

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Bioengineering ((LNBE))

Abstract

The urease-catalyzed hydrolysis of urea can display feedback driven by base production (NH3) resulting in a switch from acidic to basic pH under non-buffered conditions. Thus, this enzymatic reaction is a good candidate for investigation of chemical oscillations or bistability. In order to determine the best conditions for oscillations, a two-variable model was initially derived in which acid and urea were supplied at rates k H and k S from an external medium to an enzyme-containing compartment. Oscillations were theoretically observed providing the necessary condition that k H > k S was met. To apply this model, we devised an experimental system able to ensure the fast transport of acid compared to that of urea. In particular, by means of the droplet transfer method, we encapsulated the enzyme, together with a proper pH probe, in 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) based liposomes, where differential diffusion of H+ and urea is ensured by the different permeability (P m) of the membrane to the two species. Here we present an improved theoretical model that accounts for the products transport and for the probe hydrolysis, to obtain a better guidance for the experiments.

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Acknowledgements

Y.M. and F.R. were supported by the grants ORSA158121 and ORSA167988 funded by the University of Salerno (FARB ex 60%). The authors acknowledge the support through the COST Action CM1304 (Emergence and Evolution of Complex Chemical Systems).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, SA, Italy

    Ylenia Miele & Federico Rossi

  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, S1 3JD, Sheffield, UK

    Tamás Bánsági Jr. & Annette F. Taylor

Authors
  1. Ylenia Miele
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  2. Tamás Bánsági Jr.
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  3. Annette F. Taylor
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  4. Federico Rossi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Federico Rossi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno Department of Pharmacy, Fisciano, Italy

    Stefano Piotto

  2. Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno Chemistry and Biology, Fisciano, Italy

    Federico Rossi

  3. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno Department of Industrial Engineering, Fisciano, Italy

    Simona Concilio

  4. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno Department of Industrial Engineering, Fisciano, Italy

    Ernesto Reverchon

  5. Department of Informatics, University of Salerno Department of Informatics, Fisciano, Italy

    Giuseppe Cattaneo

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Miele, Y., Bánsági, T., Taylor, A.F., Rossi, F. (2018). Modelling Approach to Enzymatic pH Oscillators in Giant Lipid Vesicles. In: Piotto, S., Rossi, F., Concilio, S., Reverchon, E., Cattaneo, G. (eds) Advances in Bionanomaterials. Lecture Notes in Bioengineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62027-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62027-5_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62026-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62027-5

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