Chemical Feedback and Collective pH-Dynamics in Enzyme-Powered Artificial Cells.
- 1Applied Theoretical Physics-Computational Physics, Physikalisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, D-79104Freiburg, Germany.
- 2Cluster of Excellence livMatS @ FIT - Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, D-79110Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract
Chemical communication between artificial cells (ACs) is crucial for the collective behavior in synthetic prototissues. Recently synthesized ACs show pH-responsive and pH-modifying behavior by an enzymatic chemical reaction. However, the chemical interplay between pH-responsive ACs is theoretically not well studied. Here, we report a simple two-variable model for such ACs that couples substrate conversion, enzyme activity, membrane permeability, and pH-buffering. We calibrate the model to recent experiments of glucose oxidase- and urease-loaded ACs, and reproduce a protection mechanism against external acid or base perturbations. Building on the derived models we predict the dynamics of AC-mixtures of the two antagonistic ACs. Depending on composition and initial pH, the mixtures exhibit a stable low-pH state, a stable high-pH state, or bistability, providing a minimal route to hysteretic pH control in AC-communities. On longer time scales, fuel depletion leads to transient states with programmable pH and lifetime. Our results demonstrate the potential of chemical communication in AC-systems and provide testable design rules for future experiments.
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BibTeX
@article{goth2026chemical,
title = {{Chemical Feedback and Collective pH-Dynamics in Enzyme-Powered Artificial Cells.}},
author = {Nils Göth and Joachim Dzubiella},
journal = {The journal of physical chemistry. B},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcb.6c03926},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917190},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Chemical Feedback and Collective pH-Dynamics in Enzyme-Powered Artificial Cells.
AU - Nils Göth
AU - Joachim Dzubiella
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The journal of physical chemistry. B
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6c03926
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917190
AB - Chemical communication between artificial cells (ACs) is crucial for the collective behavior in synthetic prototissues. Recently synthesized ACs show pH-responsive and pH-modifying behavior by an enzymatic chemical reaction. However, the chemical interplay between pH-responsive ACs is theoretically not well studied. Here, we report a simple two-variable model for such ACs that couples substrate conversion, enzyme activity, membrane permeability, and pH-buffering. We calibrate the model to recent experiments of glucose oxidase- and urease-loaded ACs, and reproduce a protection mechanism against external acid or base perturbations. Building on the derived models we predict the dynamics of AC-mixtures of the two antagonistic ACs. Depending on composition and initial pH, the mixtures exhibit a stable low-pH state, a stable high-pH state, or bistability, providing a minimal route to hysteretic pH control in AC-communities. On longer time scales, fuel depletion leads to transient states with programmable pH and lifetime. Our results demonstrate the potential of chemical communication in AC-systems and provide testable design rules for future experiments.
SN - 1520-6106
SN - 1520-5207
ER -