Spontaneous Protein Crowding in Liposomes: A New Vista for the Origin of Cellular Metabolism

Abstract

Ferritin encapsulation inside lipid vesicles reveals the spontaneous formation of protein-rich vesicles. The solute distribution inside the vesicles follows a power law. The important conclusion for origins-of-life scenarios is that the dynamics of membrane closure allow the accumulation of solutes inside primitive cells, thus providing an explanation for the origins of early functional cells. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.