2004; Powner et al. 2009). Because of the membrane-independent nature of ATPS and coacervate models, it is unclear whether these systems are able to compartmentalize AZD6244 molecular weight genetic molecules such as RNA with minimal exchange between droplets. We have therefore studied the ability of ATPS and coacervate droplets to retain RNA oligonucleotides 15 and 50 nucleotides in length, and thereby gauge their effectiveness as membrane-free protocell model systems. Results Properties of ATPS and Coacervate Systems A 16 % dextran/10 % PEG (initial w/v)

ATPS was prepared, yielding roughly equal volumes of the dextran-rich and PEG-rich phases (Fig. S1a). When the ATPS was mixed by vortexing, a turbid suspension consisting of small, dispersed dextran-rich droplets in the bulk PEG-rich phase and PEG-rich droplets in the bulk dextran-rich phase formed. After several minutes the droplets began to coalesce and the system separated into two clear phases (Fig. S1b), with the dextran-rich phase at the bottom due to its greater density. Whether the system was in a dispersed or a coalesced state, we observed a rapid 8-fold enrichment of a fluorescently labeled RNA 15-mer into the dextran-rich phase; the fluorescent dye did not have a strong effect on partitioning (Table S1). We also investigated partitioning of RNA in ATPSs made using PEG and ionic derivatives of dextran, including cationic

diethylaminoethyl dextran (DEAE-dextran) and anionic dextran-sulfate (Fig. S2).

As expected, both of the PEG/dextran derivative systems lead to a greater degree of partitioning of RNA (Table S1). CB-839 In a 25 % DEAE-dextran/25 % Cyclin-dependent kinase 3 PEG (w/v) system (yielding ≈ 55 % DEAE-dextran-rich phase by volume), RNA partitioned strongly into the DEAE-dextran-rich phase due to the positive charge of the DEAE-dextran and the more polar nature of that phase; the degree of partitioning was so great that the RNA concentration in the PEG-rich phase was below our detection limit (Table S1). Conversely, in a 16 % dextran-sulfate/10 % PEG (w/v) system (≈60 % dextran-sulfate-rich phase by volume), RNA partitioned strongly into the PEG-rich phase, presumably due to charge repulsion from the anionic dextran-sulfate. Droplets in the DEAE-dextran/PEG system coalesced more SHP099 chemical structure slowly than droplets in the dextran/PEG or dextran-sulfate/PEG system (Fig. S3), most likely due to the high viscosity of DEAE-dextran. In all systems, renewed vortexing or mixing led to the reformation of the turbid state consisting of small, dispersed droplets. We also prepared coacervates consisting of complexes of anionic ATP and cationic poly-L-lysine (pLys). Upon visual inspection, the ATP/pLys system (30 mM ATP, 2 % pLys) appeared similar to the ATPSs as two phases formed under specific concentration conditions (Fig. S4a). Following coalescence, the lower, more dense phase was highly enriched in ATP/pLys complexes formed by the charge balancing of these species (Fig. S4b).