Fig. 1: On-chip production of double emulsions (DEs) as synthetic cell containers, encapsulating elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) as precursors for membraneless organelles.
From: Elastin-like polypeptide coacervates as reversibly triggerable compartments for synthetic cells
a We used ELPs that undergo reversible LLPS on pH decrease, temperature increase, as well as increase in the salt and protein concentrations. b Schematic showing the DE as a synthetic cell container encapsulating ELPs in their soluble state. An external trigger (pH, temperature, or osmotic change) leads to coacervation, forming ELP condensates that fuse with each other to form a single EMO. Reversing the external trigger leads to coacervate dissolution and the DE is restored to its initial homogenous state. c Bright-field and fluorescence images of the second junction showing DE production and efficient encapsulation of ELPs. d Bright-field, fluorescence, and a merged field-of-view showing a uniform DE population. A few dark droplets are unwanted single emulsions formed as a byproduct of the production process. e Frequency histogram showing the size distribution of the formed DEs (n = 767 from a single production batch). The red line indicates a Gaussian fit to the distribution. The inner aqueous phase contained 25 µM PRE-h-46 (with 4 mol% cy3-PRE-h-46 for fluorescence visualization).
