Irep Gözen's research while affiliated with University of Oslo and other places
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Publications (42)
We report the formation, growth, and dynamics of model protocell superstructures on solid surfaces, resembling single cell colonies. These structures, consisting of several layers of lipidic compartments enveloped in a dome-shaped outer lipid bilayer, emerged as a result of spontaneous shape transformation of lipid agglomerates deposited on thin fi...
We employ model protocell networks for evaluation of molecular transport through lipid nanotubes as potential means of communication among primitive cells on the early Earth. Network formation is initiated by deposition of lipid reservoirs onto a SiO2 surface in an aqueous environment. These reservoirs autonomously develop into surface-adhered prot...
Protocells Approximately 4 billion years ago, protocells are thought to have emerged as a precursor to life. In article number 2106624, Irep Gözen and co‐workers introduce protocell concepts, research and laboratory methods.
We report on liposome-mediated targeted delivery of membrane-impermeable constituents into surface-adhered giant lipid compartments, employed as artificial cells. Soluble cargo compounds are delivered by means of an open-space microfluidic device, which perfuses selected lipid compartments with loaded small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) composed of c...
The front cover artwork is provided by İrep Gözen group at the University of Oslo. The image shows primitive cell‐like compartments which have spontaneously emerged from a crack in rock‐forming mineral oligoclase. Read the full text of the Article at 10.1002/syst.202100040. “Our findings show how the first primitive cells might have developed on th...
The Front Cover shows primitive cell‐like compartments which have spontaneously emerged from a crack in rock‐forming mineral oligoclase. More information can be found in the Article by Irep Gözen and co‐workers.
The origin of life is still one of humankind's great mysteries. At the transition between nonliving and living matter, protocells, initially featureless aggregates of abiotic matter, gain the structure and functions necessary to fulfill the criteria of life. Research addressing protocells as a central element in this transition is diverse and incre...
We describe a protocol for the assembly and application of infrared (IR-B) laser-based set-ups to be used for localized heating of solid-supported planar and vesicular lipid membrane assemblies.
Prominent among the models for protocells is the spherical biosurfactant shell, freely suspended in aqueous media. This model explains initial, but not subsequent events in the development process towards structured protocells. Taking into consideration the involvement of naturally occurring surfaces, which were abundant on the early Earth, feasibl...
Self-assembled membranes composed of both fatty acids and phospholipids are permeable for solutes and structurally stable, which was likely an advantageous combination for the development of primitive cells on the early Earth. Here we report on the solid surface-assisted formation of primitive mixed-surfactant membrane compartments, i.e. model prot...
In this perspective article, I discuss whether and how solid surfaces could have played a key role in the formation of membranous primitive cells on the early Earth. I argue why surface energy could have been used by prebiotic amphiphile assemblies for unique morphological transformations, and present recent experimental findings showing the surfac...
In article number 2005320, Irep Gözen and co‐workers demonstrate that the spontaneous subcompartmentalization of model protocells is governed by the physicochemical interaction of the protocell membranes with mineral‐like solid interfaces. In the described experiments, several tens of compartments emerge on the basal membrane of each adhered model...
Membrane enclosed intracellular compartments have been exclusively associated with the eukaryotes, represented by the highly compartmentalized last eukaryotic common ancestor. Recent evidence showing the presence of membranous compartments with specific functions in archaea and bacteria makes it conceivable that the last universal common ancestor a...
The membrane of cells and organelles are highly deformable fluid interfaces, and can take on a multitude of shapes. One distinctive and particularly interesting property of biological membranes is their ability to from long and uniform nanotubes. These nanoconduits are surprisingly omnipresent in all domains of life, from archaea, bacteria, to plan...
In article number 2002529, Irep Gozen and co‐workers present experimental evidence that nucleation and growth of protocell‐like membrane compartments from surface‐adhered lipid nanotube networks are significantly enhanced at temperatures between 40 and 70 °C, and fusion can be initiated at ≈90 °C. They show that the microcontainers (5–15 μm) formed...
Elevated temperatures might have promoted the nucleation, growth, and replication of protocells on the early Earth. Recent reports have shown evidence that moderately high temperatures not only permit protocell assembly at the origin of life, but can have actively supported it. Here, the fast nucleation and growth of vesicular compartments from aut...
We investigated the interactions between styrene–maleic acid (SMA) copolymers and phospholipid bilayers, using confocal microscopy and surface acoustic wave resonance (SAR) sensing. For the first time we experimentally observed and followed pore formation by SMA copolymers in intact supported bilayers and unilamellar vesicles, showing that fluoresc...
I hypothesize that the division of the first protocell might have occurred before genetic polymers were synthesized and redistributed. In the light of recent findings, it is conceivable that the first division event of a primitive protocell might have occurred at the same time as its surface-assisted formation.
An Open Access Article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbsr.2019.100291
We demonstrate a dual sensor concept for lab-on-a-chip in-liquid sensing through integration of surface acoustic wave resonance (SAR) sensing with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in a single device. In this concept, the EIS is integrated within the building blocks of...
A novel cellular automaton (CA) for simulating biological membrane rupture is proposed. Constructed via simple rules governing deformation, tension, and fracture, the CA incorporates ideas from standard percolation models and bond-based fracture methods. The model is demonstrated by comparing simulations with experimental results of a double bilaye...
A novel cellular automaton (CA) for simulating biological membrane rupture is proposed. Constructed via simple rules governing deformation, tension, and fracture, the CA incorporates ideas from standard percolation models and bond-based fracture methods. The model is demonstrated by comparing simulations with experimental results of a double bilaye...
In living cells, molecular motors create activity that enhances the diffusion of particles throughout the cytoplasm, and not just ones attached to the motors. We demonstrate initial steps toward creating artificial cells that mimic this phenomenon. Our system consists of active, Pt-coated Janus particles and passive tracers confined to emulsion dro...
We present a convenient method to form a bottom-up structural organelle model for the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The model consists of highly dense lipidic nanotubes that are, in terms of morphology and dynamics, reminiscent of ER. The networks are derived from phospholipid double bilayer membrane patches adhering to a transparent Al2O3 substrate....
Instrumental techniques and associated methods for single cell analysis, designed to investigate and measure a broad range of cellular parameters in search of unique features, address key limitations of conventional cell-based assays with their ensemble average response. While many different single cell techniques exist for suspension cultures, whi...
In living cells, molecular motors create activity that enhances the diffusion of particles throughout the cytoplasm, and not just ones attached to the motors. We demonstrate initial steps toward creating artificial cells that mimic this phenomenon. Our system consists of active, Pt-coated Janus particles and passive tracers confined to emulsion dro...
This chapter presents the multifunctional pipette, a hydrodynamically confined volume device that has been specifically developed for single-cell superfusion in adherent cultures. The multifunctional pipette is a microfluidic device with three parallel open channels, which are used to create the hydrodynamically confined volume, concentrated at the...
This chapter presents an overview of recently published application examples of the multifunctional pipette. The BioPen fills a gap in single-cell research technology, as it addresses specific problems encountered in research on adherent single cells and tissue samples. The cell is the fundamental structured biological unit. Advances in single-cell...
We report on the self-organized formation and dynamics of artificial lipid nanotube networks, which, in terms of morphology and behavior, resemble the endoplasmic reticulum(ER) of biological cells. The networks, initially generated from a solid-supported planar phospholipid membrane, undergo a morphological transformation, triggered by the chelatio...
The exchange of information on the molecular level is a vital task in metazoan organisms. Communication between biological cells occurs through chemical or electrical signals in order to initiate, regulate and coordinate diverse physiological functions of an organism [1]. Typical chemical modes of signaling and communication are cell-to-cell intera...
Lipid bilayer membranes are among the most ubiquitous structures in the living world, with intricate structural features and a multitude of biological functions. It is attractive to recreate these structures in the laboratory, as this allows mimicking and studying the properties of biomembranes and their constituents, and to specifically exploit th...
We demonstrate the contactless generation of lipid nanotube networks by means of thermally induced migration of flat giant unilamellar vesicles (FGUVs), covering micro-scale areas on oxidized aluminum surfaces. A temperature gradient with a reach of 20 μm was generated using a focused IR laser, leading to a surface adhesion gradient, along which FG...
We describe an experimental system where we can generate, and subsequently close, multiple large membrane ruptures in supported double bilayers. We show in this study for the first time that large membrane pores (10–150 μm in size) in flat phospholipid vesicles can be reduced in size or completely closed by a pore edge tension driven area reduction...
We herein review advances in analytical techniques specifically applied to the investigation of various properties and functional characteristics of molecular phospholipid films on solid supports. Such self-assembled artificial model membranes constitute two-dimensional fluids with high lateral order and nanometer thickness, typically covering an a...
Biological nanotubes, often referred to as tunneling nanotubes, fulfill important functions within the cell, e.g. by supplying cell components, conducting signals and transporting virus particles and bacteria. Many functions are still insufficiently understood, which has placed these nanostructures in the focus of recent investigation. We report he...
Bilayer membranes envelope cells as well as organelles, and constitute the most ubiquitous biological material found in all branches of the phylogenetic tree. Cell membrane rupture is an important biological process, and substantial rupture rates are found in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells under a mechanical load. Rupture can also be induced by...
Local signaling, cell polarization, and protrusive growth are key steps in directed migration of biological cells guided by chemical gradients. Here we present a minimal system which captures several key features of cellular migration from signaling-to-motion. The model system consists of flat, negatively charged phospholipidvesicles, a negatively...
We demonstrate that pulse width flow modulation (PWFM) can be used to design fast, accurate, and precise multistage dilution modules for microfluidic devices. The PWFM stage unit presented here yields 10-fold dilution, but several PWFM stages can be connected in series to yield higher-order dilutions. We have combined two stages in a device thus ca...
Citations
... 28 In order to perform the encapsulation experiments, we conceived a method to address a single superstructure with fluorescently labeled ssDNA (20 nucleobases). 50,51 We used a hydrodynamically confined flow device for local superfusion. 42,52−54 This way, we achieved complete control over the chemical environment around a selected superstructure without buildup of the superfusion agents in the ambient buffer. ...
Reference: Colony-like Protocell Superstructures
... Bilayer membranes perform essential functions that support cellular life as we know it. Despite drastic changes in Earth's geochemistry since the emergence of life (Gözen et al., 2022;Saha et al., 2022), the principal roles of the lipid bilayer have been preserved: compartmentalizing and regulating the internal environment with respect to its surroundings and enabling stable propagation through growth and division (Wang and Szostak, 2019). In protocells, such roles must have been fulfilled from prebiotically available constituents (Gözen et al., 2022). ...
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... 14 Most recently, we showed the formation of colony-like model protocells emerging from the molecular lipid films on early Earth minerals and a Martian meteorite. 15 Here we report the stepwise formation and growth of protocell superstructures containing tens to thousands of membranous compartments, originating from a single onionshell lipid reservoir. Inside a lipid compartment, several layers of smaller vesicles grow from the surface up, leading to a densely packed pool of compartments of similar shape and size, reminiscent of bacterial colonies. ...
Reference: Colony-like Protocell Superstructures
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... The laser current utilized for experiments was in the range 0.7−0−9 A, resulting in a local temperature increase to 40 and 70°C. 28,81 To avoid a heat shock, we initially set the temperature to 40°C and a few seconds after increased it to 70°C. ...
Reference: Colony-like Protocell Superstructures
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... membrane composition, lipid phase, chain length, sterol type. Permeability coefficients of different lipid membranes have been reported [9][10][11][12] . across a DMPC:DPPC (50:50) bilayer was calculated as 0.2 × 10 −9 / for ATP. of fluorescein through GUVs composed of DPPC, DOPC and cholesterol (1:1:1) was determined as 19.4 ± 1.8 × 10 −6 / by Li et al. 12 . ...
... The results shown in Figure 5 support the earlier hypotheses that protocell colonies have a higher mechanical stability. 44 Even the nonenveloped structures withstand the applied ambient stress conditions better than the individual vesicles. This might be due to the presence of lipid nanotubes which tether each compartment to the surface. ...
Reference: Colony-like Protocell Superstructures
... The supplied cargo molecules were ATTO 488 (Fig. 2a), a 10-base RNA labeled with fluorescein amidite (FAM), or a 20-base single stranded DNA, also labeled with FAM. During superfusion, these molecules passed the membrane and entered the protocellnanotube networks through transient nano-pores 10,20 . The concentration of FAM-RNA and FAM-ssDNA inside the compartments after 4 min. of superfusion was observed to be lower compared to ATTO 488 (Fig. S1). ...
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... We show that fluctuations favor bond breaking or patch shrinking depending on bond mobility, and that lower membrane tension leads to irreversible budding of blisters and membrane internalization, akin to precursors of endocytic vesicles. Previous observations of blister formation following osmotic shocks in substrate-adhered vesicles via non-specific physical interactions 39,40 suggest a broader generality of our results. ...
... This paper's goal is to review some recent TNT formation processes from both a biological and a computational modeling standpoint. Given the wide diversity of eukaryotic TNT morphology and structure described in recent reviews [11,37,[53][54][55][56], it is critical to pinpoint some overarching factors governing their development. It is evident that the contractile stresses exerted on membrane-bound filaments by molecular motors and localized polymerization of cytoskeletal elements play a crucial role in the formation of TNT [46]. ...
Reference: Formation principles of tunneling nanotubes
... Despite their proximity, spontaneous fusion between the compartments is not likely, as energy input is required to create pores in initially isolated bilayers. Fusion in PNNs induced by external cues was previously observed, and characterized with a mathematical model 13 . It is expected that if the two compartments fuse at their equator, they will rapidly form a larger compartment containing a stable circular pore (Fig. S7b-d). ...
