(411c) Graduate Student Award Session: Photo- Induced Pinocytosis in Synthetic Liposomes

            An
essential step in the development of artificial cells is making these cells
capable of taking up resources for sustained transcription and
translation.  Previous work on incorporation
of appropriate machinery into the membrane to make this possible has proven to
be complex and complicated.  Here,
we present the introduction of photocleavable units
into the phospholipid structure through which photo-induced pinocytosis
behavior is achieved.  Upon exposure
to 365nm or 405nm light, cleavage products build up, leading non-spherical
vesicles to engulf external fluid during their transition to a more spherical
shape.  This process would allow
future artificial cellular systems to uptake resources that range from dNTPs and energy to whole proteins from the external
environment.