Glutamate helps unmask the differences in driving forces for phase separation versus clustering of FET family proteins in sub-saturated solutions.

ABSTRACT: Multivalent proteins undergo coupled segregative and associative phase transitions. Phase separation, a segregative transition, is driven by macromolecular solubility, and this leads to coexisting phases above system-specific saturation concentrations. Percolation is a continuous transition that is driven by multivalent associations among cohesive motifs. Contributions from percolation are highlighted by the formation of heterogeneous distributions of clusters in sub-saturated solutions, as was recently reported for Fused in sarcoma (FUS) and FET family proteins. Here, we show that clustering and phase separation are defined by a separation of length- and energy-scales. This is unmasked when glutamate is the primary solution anion. Glutamate is preferentially excluded from protein sites, a

SUBMITTER: Kar M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10543311 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature