Evan Spruijt received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

We congratulate Evan Spruijt with his research proposal that received this ERC funding. Below the details, but more information can also be found at the RU website.

PhaseShape

Coacervate-Controlled Membrane Remodelling and Connecting of Synthetic Cells, Evan Spruijt

Membranes are crucial for the functioning of living cells. They enclose and protect the cell and organize the cellular machinery in subcompartments. Membrane proteins regulate the transport of molecules entering and exiting the cell, which is essential to maintain homeostasis and produce the energy required for life. However, membranes also introduce major challenges to create synthetic cells with life-like properties or interfacing them with live cells. Without complex transport proteins, vesicle-based synthetic cells cannot take up nutrients, excrete waste, communicate and stay alive. Moreover, connecting synthetic cells into functional tissues with controlled communication and mechanical properties has proven difficult. Emerging evidence shows that phase-separated condensates in the cell are involved in a wide range of functional interactions with cellular membranes, leading to transmembrane signalling, membrane remodelling and exocytosis.

Spruijt’s project aims to develop coacervate protocells with dynamically controlled properties that are capable of similar functional interactions in synthetic cells. The coacervates proposed here have three vital functions: (1) supply nutrients and biomolecular machinery via permeabilization or endocytosis; (2) reshape synthetic cells allowing for budding and division; and (3) connect cells into tissues with tunable properties and controlled communication. Key to these coacervates is the ability to dynamically control their interaction with membranes and physicochemical properties, which we achieve via active (bio)chemical reactions established in our group. 

Controlling this unique coacervate-membrane interface will be a gamechanger for building viable and reconfigurable synthetic cells and tissues by opening up new opportunities for delivery, remodelling and signalling, and provide a fundamental, physicochemical understanding of condensate-membrane interactions in biology.