Cells are highly complex bio-nanoreactors with a complex synthetic medium where several multistep reactions occur simultaneously throughout the cell. In nature, compartmentalisation is demonstrated in plants by the organelle, chloroplast, which is responsible for photosynthesis. The mimicking of photosynthesis has been reported by incorporating adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase to convert light energy into chemical energy1.In this work, we show the development of a primitive synthetic chloroplast capable of converting light into chemical energy by generating a proton gradient (??) upon photo-excitation. A light-harvesting bioconjugate (Ru(II)-cytochrome c) and cytochrome c oxidase were encapsulated in a polymer membrane vesicle based on the diblock copolymer polystyrene140-b-poly(acrylic acid)48 reminiscent of a photosynthetic membrane.REFERENCES [1] G. Steinberg-Yfrach, P. A. Lindell, S. C. Hung, A. L. Moore, D. Gust and T. A. Moore, Nature, 385, pp. 239-241 (1997).

Photoinduced membrane proton-pumping via polymersomes as chloroplast mimics

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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