Fig. 3: Reversible temperature-triggered EMO formation in DEs.
From: Elastin-like polypeptide coacervates as reversibly triggerable compartments for synthetic cells
a Illustrative representation of the cycle induced by temperature changes leading to EMO formation and dissolution within a closed PDMS well. b Representative bright-field, fluorescence, and merged images of several DEs showing two temperature-triggered EMO formation-dissolution cycles: pre-heating (first panel), post-heating at 46 °C for 20 min (second and fourth panels), and after cooling on ice for 15 min (third and fifth panels). c Mean ISD values of the DEs at the corresponding trigger points. d Corresponding mean diameters of the DE population showing significant reduction in size after the second heating (marked by asterisks; p-value < 0.001), while no significant difference (marked NS) was observed otherwise. Data points represent mean values derived from >39 DEs, with error bars indicating standard deviations. The inner aqueous phase contained 25 µM PRE-h-36 (with 4 mol% cy5-PRE-h-36 for fluorescence visualization).
