Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Liquid–liquid phase separation underlies the formation of biological condensates. Physically, such systems are microemulsions which have a general propensity to fuse and coalesce; however, many condensates persist as independent droplets inside cells. This stability is crucial for their functioning, but the physicochemical mechanisms that control the emulsion stability of condensates remain poorly understood. Here, by combining single-condensate zeta potential measurements, optical microscopy, tweezer experiments, and multiscale molecular modelling, we investigate how the forces that sustain condensates impact their stability against fusion. By comparing PR 25 :PolyU and FUS condensates, we show that a higher condensate surface charge correlates with a lower fusion propensity, and that this behavior can be inferred from their zeta potentials. We reveal that overall stabilization against fusion stems from a combination of repulsive forces between condensates and the effects that surface electrostatics have on lowering surface tension, thus shedding light on the molecular determinants of condensate coalescence.
Source: Nano Letters
Language: English
Topic: RNA Research and Splicing
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States, University of Cambridge, King's College London, European Commission, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, H2020 European Research Council, H2020 Future and Emerging Technologies, H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council
Awards: G177484282, Peta-5: A National Facility for Petascale Data Intensive Computation and Analytics, G2858208662, G3141660872, G3207356259, G358276009, G393177772, A Single-Molecule Technology for Resolving Chaperone Action in Neurodegenerative Diseases, G434337789, TOWARDS NOVEL NANO-SCALE TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON PHORETIC FLOW EFFECTS, TOWARDS NOVEL NANO-SCALE TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON PHORETIC FLOW EFFECTS, Determining Physical Properties of Heterogeneous Protein Complexes in Small Volumes, G5702163051, G5878972985, G6001733700, G6661763476, G6691532168, A Single-Molecule Technology for Resolving Chaperone Action in Neurodegenerative Diseases, G7131604273, Towards Realistic Modelling of Nucleosome Organization Inside Functional Chromatin Domains
OpenAlex ID: W3018725402