Dynamic Microcompartments Drive Adaptation, Catalysis, and Assembly Changes in Constitutional Dynamic Networks
Tanguy RieuFerran EsteveFatma Zohra MihoubiClaudia BonfioJean-Marie Lehn; Journal American Chemical Society 2026;
I didn’t want to just know the names of things. I remember really wanting to know how it all worked.
Publications
All
Supramolecular biochemistry
Systems biochemistry
Past research and collaborations
Selection of Order by the Formation of Self-Reproducing Microcompartments Drives Adaptation, Catalysis, and Chemical Evolution in Constitutional Dynamic Networks.
Mr. Tanguy Rieu, Dr. Ferran Esteve, Mrs. Fatma Zohra Mihoubi, et al. Selection of Order by the Formation of Self-Reproducing Microcompartments Drives Adaptation, Catalysis, and Chemical Evolution in Constitutional Dynamic Networks.. ChemRxiv. 01 September 2025.
Peptide heterogeneity enables and stabilises peptide/nucleic acid coacervates
Ms Fatma Zohra Mihoubi, Dr Karina Kinuyo Nakashima, Dr Roman Staňo, et al. Peptide heterogeneity enables and stabilises peptide/nucleic acid coacervates. ChemRxiv. 03 May 2026.
Differential stability and dynamics of DNA-based and RNA-based coacervates affect non-enzymatic RNA chemistry
Nakashima, K. K., Mihoubi, F. Z., Saraya, J. S., Russell, K. O., Rahmatova, F., Robinson, J. D., Maristany, M. J., Huertas, J., K., D., & Bonfio, C. Nature Communications (2025), 16(1), 1-15.
Compositional and functional diversity of minimal coacervates in a nucleic acid-peptide world
Nakashima K.K.,† Mihoubi F.Z.,† Saraya J. S., Russell K.O., Rahmatova F., Robinson J.D., Maristany M.J., Huertas J., Rubio-Sánchez R., O’Flaherty D.K.,* Collepardo-Guevara R.,* and Bonfio C.* ChemRxiv (2024).
Mg2+-driven selection of natural phosphatidic acids in primitive membranes
Thaipurayil Madanan K., Li Y., Boide-Trujillo V. J., Russell D. A., Bonfio C. Chem. Sci. (2024).
Nonenzymatic autocatalysis generates coacervates and controls their structure
Mihoubi F. Z., Nakashima K., Bonfio C. Chem (2023), 9, 3394-3396.
Ring opening of glycerol cyclic phosphates leads to a diverse array of potentially prebiotic phospholipids
Aleksandrova M., Rahmatova F., Russell D. A., Bonfio C.* Journal of the American Chemical Society (2023), 145, 25614-25620.
Interfacing coacervates with membranes: from artificial organelles and hybrid protocells to intracellular delivery
Lu T., Javed S., Bonfio C., Spruijt E. Small Methods (2023), 2300294.
Bioenergetics of early life
Aleksandrova M., Bonfio C.* EMBO Reports (2022), e55679.
A possible path towards encoded protein synthesis on ancient Earth
Bonfio C.* Nature (2022), 605, 231-232, News&Views.
Thermally driven membrane phase transitions enable content reshuffling in primitive cells
Rubio-Sanchez R., Wang A., O’Flaherty D., Coscia F., Petris G., Di Michele L., Cicuta P., Bonfio C.* Journal of the American Chemical Society (2021), 143, 16589-16598.
The curious case of peptide-coordinated iron–sulfur clusters: prebiotic and biomimetic insights
Bonfio C.* Dalton Transactions (2021), 50, 801-807.
Choroid plexus organoids predict CNS drug permeability and reveal human CSF proteins produced by specialised cell types
Pellegrini L., Bonfio C., Chadwick J., Begum F., Skehel M., Lancaster M. Science (2020), 369, eaaz5626.
Activation chemistry drives the emergence of functionalised protocells
Bonfio C.*§, Russell D. A.§, Green N. J., Mariani A., Sutherland J. D. Chemical Science (2020), 11, 10688-10697.
Harnessing chemical energy for the activation and joining of prebiotic building blocks
Liu Z., Wu L., Xu J., Bonfio C., Russell D. A., Sutherland J. D. Nature Chemistry (2020), 12, 1023-1028.
Glycerol configurations of environmental GDGTs investigated using a selective sn2 ether cleavage protocol
Liu X., Russell D. A., Bonfio C., Summons R. E. Organic Geochemistry (2019), 128, 57-62.
Length-selective synthesis of diacylglycerol-phosphates through energy-dissipative cycling
Bonfio C.§, Caumes C.§, Duffy C.C.§, Patel B. H.§, Percivalle C.§, Tsanakopoulou M.§, Sutherland J.D. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2019), 141, 3934-3939.
Investigation of glutathione-derived electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions and their role in defining Grx5 [2Fe-2S] cluster stability, optical spectra and transfer chemistry
Sen S., Bonfio C., Mansy S. S., Cowan J. A. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (2018), 23 (2), 241-252.
pH-driven RNA strand separation under prebiotically plausible conditions
Mariani A., Bonfio C., Johnson C., Sutherland J. D. Biochemistry (2018), 57, 6382-6386.
Prebiotic iron-sulfur peptide catalysts generate a pH gradient across model membranes of late protocells
Bonfio C., Godino E., Corsini M., Fabrizi De Biani F., Guella G., Mansy S. S. Nature Catalysis (2018), 1, 616-623.
UV light-driven prebiotic synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters
Bonfio C., Valer L., Scintilla S., Shah S., Evans D. J., Jin L., Szostak J. W., Sasselov D. D., Sutherland J. D., Mansy S. S. Nature Chemistry (2017), 9, 1229-1234.
The chemical roots of iron-sulfur dependent metabolism
Bonfio C., Mansy S. S. Biochemistry (2017), 56, 5225-5226.
Cysteine containing dipeptides show a metal specificity that matches the composition of seawater
Belmonte L., Rossetto D., Forlin M., Scintilla S., Bonfio C., Mansy S. S. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (2016), 18, 20104-8.
Duplications of an iron-sulfur tripeptide leads to the formation of a protoferredoxin
Scintilla S., Bonfio C., Belmonte L., Forlin M., Rossetto D., Li J., Cowan J. A., Galliani A., Arnesano F., Assfalg M., Mansy S. S. Chemical Communications (2016), 52, 13456-13459.
Dynamic Microcompartments Drive Adaptation, Catalysis, and Assembly Changes in Constitutional Dynamic Networks
Tanguy RieuFerran EsteveFatma Zohra MihoubiClaudia BonfioJean-Marie Lehn; Journal American Chemical Society 2026;
Selection of Order by the Formation of Self-Reproducing Microcompartments Drives Adaptation, Catalysis, and Chemical Evolution in Constitutional Dynamic Networks.
Mr. Tanguy Rieu, Dr. Ferran Esteve, Mrs. Fatma Zohra Mihoubi, et al. Selection of Order by the Formation of Self-Reproducing Microcompartments Drives Adaptation, Catalysis, and Chemical Evolution in Constitutional Dynamic Networks.. ChemRxiv. 01 September 2025.
Differential stability and dynamics of DNA-based and RNA-based coacervates affect non-enzymatic RNA chemistry
Nakashima, K. K., Mihoubi, F. Z., Saraya, J. S., Russell, K. O., Rahmatova, F., Robinson, J. D., Maristany, M. J., Huertas, J., K., D., & Bonfio, C. Nature Communications (2025), 16(1), 1-15.
Compositional and functional diversity of minimal coacervates in a nucleic acid-peptide world
Nakashima K.K.,† Mihoubi F.Z.,† Saraya J. S., Russell K.O., Rahmatova F., Robinson J.D., Maristany M.J., Huertas J., Rubio-Sánchez R., O’Flaherty D.K.,* Collepardo-Guevara R.,* and Bonfio C.* ChemRxiv (2024).
Nonenzymatic autocatalysis generates coacervates and controls their structure
Mihoubi F. Z., Nakashima K., Bonfio C. Chem (2023), 9, 3394-3396.
Thermally driven membrane phase transitions enable content reshuffling in primitive cells
Rubio-Sanchez R., Wang A., O’Flaherty D., Coscia F., Petris G., Di Michele L., Cicuta P., Bonfio C.* Journal of the American Chemical Society (2021), 143, 16589-16598.
Length-selective synthesis of diacylglycerol-phosphates through energy-dissipative cycling
Bonfio C.§, Caumes C.§, Duffy C.C.§, Patel B. H.§, Percivalle C.§, Tsanakopoulou M.§, Sutherland J.D. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2019), 141, 3934-3939.
Peptide heterogeneity enables and stabilises peptide/nucleic acid coacervates
Ms Fatma Zohra Mihoubi, Dr Karina Kinuyo Nakashima, Dr Roman Staňo, et al. Peptide heterogeneity enables and stabilises peptide/nucleic acid coacervates. ChemRxiv. 03 May 2026.
Differential stability and dynamics of DNA-based and RNA-based coacervates affect non-enzymatic RNA chemistry
Nakashima, K. K., Mihoubi, F. Z., Saraya, J. S., Russell, K. O., Rahmatova, F., Robinson, J. D., Maristany, M. J., Huertas, J., K., D., & Bonfio, C. Nature Communications (2025), 16(1), 1-15.
Mg2+-driven selection of natural phosphatidic acids in primitive membranes
Thaipurayil Madanan K., Li Y., Boide-Trujillo V. J., Russell D. A., Bonfio C. Chem. Sci. (2024).
Ring opening of glycerol cyclic phosphates leads to a diverse array of potentially prebiotic phospholipids
Aleksandrova M., Rahmatova F., Russell D. A., Bonfio C.* Journal of the American Chemical Society (2023), 145, 25614-25620.
Bioenergetics of early life
Aleksandrova M., Bonfio C.* EMBO Reports (2022), e55679.
A possible path towards encoded protein synthesis on ancient Earth
Bonfio C.* Nature (2022), 605, 231-232, News&Views.
Activation chemistry drives the emergence of functionalised protocells
Bonfio C.*§, Russell D. A.§, Green N. J., Mariani A., Sutherland J. D. Chemical Science (2020), 11, 10688-10697.
Harnessing chemical energy for the activation and joining of prebiotic building blocks
Liu Z., Wu L., Xu J., Bonfio C., Russell D. A., Sutherland J. D. Nature Chemistry (2020), 12, 1023-1028.
Interfacing coacervates with membranes: from artificial organelles and hybrid protocells to intracellular delivery
Lu T., Javed S., Bonfio C., Spruijt E. Small Methods (2023), 2300294.
The curious case of peptide-coordinated iron–sulfur clusters: prebiotic and biomimetic insights
Bonfio C.* Dalton Transactions (2021), 50, 801-807.
Choroid plexus organoids predict CNS drug permeability and reveal human CSF proteins produced by specialised cell types
Pellegrini L., Bonfio C., Chadwick J., Begum F., Skehel M., Lancaster M. Science (2020), 369, eaaz5626.
Glycerol configurations of environmental GDGTs investigated using a selective sn2 ether cleavage protocol
Liu X., Russell D. A., Bonfio C., Summons R. E. Organic Geochemistry (2019), 128, 57-62.
Investigation of glutathione-derived electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions and their role in defining Grx5 [2Fe-2S] cluster stability, optical spectra and transfer chemistry
Sen S., Bonfio C., Mansy S. S., Cowan J. A. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (2018), 23 (2), 241-252.
pH-driven RNA strand separation under prebiotically plausible conditions
Mariani A., Bonfio C., Johnson C., Sutherland J. D. Biochemistry (2018), 57, 6382-6386.
Prebiotic iron-sulfur peptide catalysts generate a pH gradient across model membranes of late protocells
Bonfio C., Godino E., Corsini M., Fabrizi De Biani F., Guella G., Mansy S. S. Nature Catalysis (2018), 1, 616-623.
UV light-driven prebiotic synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters
Bonfio C., Valer L., Scintilla S., Shah S., Evans D. J., Jin L., Szostak J. W., Sasselov D. D., Sutherland J. D., Mansy S. S. Nature Chemistry (2017), 9, 1229-1234.
The chemical roots of iron-sulfur dependent metabolism
Bonfio C., Mansy S. S. Biochemistry (2017), 56, 5225-5226.
Cysteine containing dipeptides show a metal specificity that matches the composition of seawater
Belmonte L., Rossetto D., Forlin M., Scintilla S., Bonfio C., Mansy S. S. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (2016), 18, 20104-8.
Duplications of an iron-sulfur tripeptide leads to the formation of a protoferredoxin
Scintilla S., Bonfio C., Belmonte L., Forlin M., Rossetto D., Li J., Cowan J. A., Galliani A., Arnesano F., Assfalg M., Mansy S. S. Chemical Communications (2016), 52, 13456-13459.
* indicates the corresponding author
§ indicates co-first author(s)