Giant vesicles as compartmentalized bio-reactors: A 3D modelling approach

Abstract

Giant lipid vesicles have been extensively used in recent years as in vitro artificial models for protocells, i.e. primitive cell models or synthetic cell-like systems of minimal complexity. Due to their dimensions in the micrometer range, giant vesicles can be designed as micro-sized enzymatic chemical reactors fed by a flux of substrates from the outside and monitored by confocal light microscopy in order to follow the production of fluorescence compounds. In this paper we present a 3D modelling approach to the simulation of giant vesicle where enzymatic reactions take place, and we apply this approach to a case study of a three-enzymes metabolic pathway.