A Simple Model Cell Reveals Complexity of Cellular Function

model of cell development
The model cell developed in the lab of Christine Keating at Penn State uses as the cytoplasm a solution of two different polymers, PEG and dextran. The blue area is the PEG-rich region. This new structure exhibits polarity both in the membrane and in the aqueous interior of the model cell.

A team of Penn State researchers has developed a simple artificial cell with which to investigate the organization and function of two of the most basic cell components: the cell membrane and the cytoplasm-the gelatinous fluid that surrounds the structures in living cells. The work could lead to the creation of new drugs that take advantage of properties of cell organization to prevent the development of diseases.

"We aren't trying to generate life here. Rather, we want to understand the physical principles that govern biological systems,” said Christine Keating, associate professor of chemistry. “For me the big picture is trying to understand how the staggering complexity observed in biological systems might have arisen from seemingly simple chemical and physical principles."

The research team includes Ann-Sofie Cans, a former postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry who is now at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and M. Scott Long and Meghan Andes, both graduate students in the Department of Chemistry. The work was primarily supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Source: Eberly College of Science

This research brief was featured in the brochure Biomedical Materials.