Simple Lipid Amphiphiles Co-Assemble to Exhibit Growth into Non-Equilibrium Catalytic Vesicles that Generate Osmolytes to Demonstrate Self-Division and Eventually Decay

Compartments seen in diverse length scales across all life forms are kinetically stable as these need energy and matter to sustain spatial organization, enable growth, division and ultimately undergo decay. This cycle of growth-division-death is central to all living systems, driven by intricate chemical reaction networks involving complex biological macromolecules. Herein, we report the generation of out-of-equilibrium catalytic vesicles that can autonomously grow via an autocatalytic mechanism from simple lipid amphiphiles and subsequently divide and degrade. Remarkably, the non-equilibrium compartments can leverage their intrinsic hydrolytic capabilities to trigger membrane deformation and self-division into daughter compartments before perishing (via negative feedback) into a dead equilibrium state. This minimal chemical reaction network comprising of simple single-chain amphiphiles, realizes complex behaviors of anabolism (autocatalytic generation of vesicle-forming component), growth (via positive feedback mechanism through physical autocatalysis) and catabolism (via negative feedback through hydrolytic degradation), thus fundamentally mimicking life-death cycles of living matter.