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<p>A hallmark of life is its capacity to grow and make changes in response to specific conditions, which drives adaptation and variation within populations. Replicating this ability in artificial systems marks a significant milestone in creating lifelike behaviours and probing the origin of life. Here we present an adaptive supramolecular system that exhibited complex growth and phase behaviours driven by the interplay between external environmental factors (light input) and intrinsic chemical activity. This process is powered by light-activated bond scission of strained cyclic disulfides in monomers, followed by the formation of diverse oligomers with linear disulfide linkages. Through self-organization, the information of chemical reactions is translated into protocellular growth and structural transition by coupling supramolecular aggregation and liquid–liquid phase separation. Our findings highlight the emergence of chemical complexity and the formation of cell-like structures from simple molecular systems, offering insights into the mechanisms of self-organization and compartmentalization, which are crucial to understanding the origin of life.</p><p></p>

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Light-fuelled growth dynamics and structural transition of synthetic protocells

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月22日

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  • Ke Shi,
  • Peiyong Song,
  • Jianwei Li,
  • Yan Qiao,
  • Yiyang Lin

摘要

A hallmark of life is its capacity to grow and make changes in response to specific conditions, which drives adaptation and variation within populations. Replicating this ability in artificial systems marks a significant milestone in creating lifelike behaviours and probing the origin of life. Here we present an adaptive supramolecular system that exhibited complex growth and phase behaviours driven by the interplay between external environmental factors (light input) and intrinsic chemical activity. This process is powered by light-activated bond scission of strained cyclic disulfides in monomers, followed by the formation of diverse oligomers with linear disulfide linkages. Through self-organization, the information of chemical reactions is translated into protocellular growth and structural transition by coupling supramolecular aggregation and liquid–liquid phase separation. Our findings highlight the emergence of chemical complexity and the formation of cell-like structures from simple molecular systems, offering insights into the mechanisms of self-organization and compartmentalization, which are crucial to understanding the origin of life.