Devising a divisome for synthetic cells

Abstract

Cell division is a fundamental process essential for life, underpinning reproduction, development and tissue maintenance across all organisms and enabling population growth and evolutionary adaptation. Recreating this capability is, therefore, a central challenge in bottom–up synthetic biology, wherein the aim is to construct functional synthetic cells. In recent years, substantial progress has been made toward building a synthetic divisome through partial reconstitution of the protein machinery underlying cell division in vitro. Here, we review current strategies to mimic the key stages of division: symmetry breaking to define the division site, membrane deformation to drive constriction and, thus, shape changes of the cell, and the final abscission event. We critically assess the successes and limitations of these approaches and discuss how integrating multiple modules may enable the realization of a minimal, functional division system for synthetic cells.