Anomalous Scaling of Gene Expression in Confined Cell-Free Reactions

作者：Sakamoto Ryota^*; Noireaux Vincent; Maeda Yusuke T

来源：Scientific Reports, 2018, 8(1): 7364.

DOI：10.1038/s41598-018-25532-3

Cellular surface breaks the symmetry of molecular diffusion across membrane. Here, we study how steric interactions between the surface and the bulk of cell-sized emulsion droplets alters gene expression emulated by a cell-free transcription/translation (TXTL) system. The concentration of synthesized reporter proteins in droplets of radius R shows an anomalous geometric scaling of R-4 different from the expected size-dependence of R-3. Given that TXTL becomes less efficient at thin surface layer, a mathematical model explains the anomalous size-dependence found in experiment. The surface of cell-sized compartment can thus play a regulatory role for cell-free gene expression.

• 出版日期2018-5-9