Lipids spontaneously assemble into vesicle‐forming membranes. Such vesicles serve as compartments for even the simplest living systems. Vesicles have been extensively studied for constructing synthetic cells or as models for protocells—the cells hypothesized to have existed before life. These compartments exist almost always close to equilibrium. Life, however, exists out of equilibrium. In this work, we studied vesicle‐based compartments regulated by a non‐equilibrium chemical reaction network that converts activating agents. In this way, the compartments require a constant or periodic supply of activating agents to sustain themselves. Specifically, we use activating agents to condense carboxylates and phosphate esters into acyl phosphate‐based lipids that form vesicles. These vesicles can only be sustained when condensing agents are present; without them, they decay. We demonstrate that the chemical reaction network can operate on prebiotic activating agents, opening the door to prebiotically plausible, self‐sustainable protocells that compete for resources. In future work, such protocells should be endowed with a genotype, e.g., self‐replicating RNA structures, to alter the protocell's behavior. Such protocells could enable Darwinian evolution in a prebiotically plausible chemical system.

中文翻译：

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酰基磷酸盐作为自维持原始细胞的化学燃料构建块

脂质自发组装成囊泡形成膜。即使是最简单的生命系统，这种囊泡也可以充当隔室。囊泡已被广泛研究用于构建合成细胞或作为原始细胞的模型 - 假设细胞在生命之前就已经存在。这些区室几乎总是接近平衡状态。然而，生命是不平衡的。在这项工作中，我们研究了由转化活化剂的非平衡化学反应网络调节的基于囊泡的区室。这样，隔室需要持续或定期供应活化剂来维持自身。具体来说，我们使用活化剂将羧酸盐和磷酸酯缩合成酰基磷酸酯脂质，从而形成囊泡。这些囊泡只有在凝结剂存在时才能维持；没有它们，它们就会腐烂。我们证明化学反应网络可以对益生元激活剂起作用，为益生元合理的、自我维持的、竞争资源的原始细胞打开了大门。在未来的工作中，此类原始细胞应被赋予基因型，例如自我复制的RNA结构，以改变原始细胞的行为。这种原始细胞可以在生命起源前的化学系统中实现达尔文式的进化。