Collective Behavior of Urease pH Clocks in Nano- and Microvesicles Controlled by Fast Ammonia Transport

J Phys Chem Lett. 2022 Mar 3;13(8):1979-1984. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c00069. Epub 2022 Feb 21.

Abstract

The transmission of chemical signals via an extracellular solution plays a vital role in collective behavior in cellular biological systems and may be exploited in applications of lipid vesicles such as drug delivery. Here, we investigated chemical communication in synthetic micro- and nanovesicles containing urease in a solution of urea and acid. We combined experiments with simulations to demonstrate that the fast transport of ammonia to the external solution governs the pH-time profile and synchronizes the timing of the pH clock reaction in a heterogeneous population of vesicles. This study shows how the rate of production and emission of a small basic product controls pH changes in active vesicles with a distribution of sizes and enzyme amounts, which may be useful in bioreactor or healthcare applications.

MeSH terms

  • Ammonia*
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Mass Gatherings
  • Urea
  • Urease*

Substances

  • Ammonia
  • Urea
  • Urease