A colloidal model for the equilibrium assembly and liquid-liquid phase separation of the reflectin A1 protein.

ABSTRACT: Reflectin is an intrinsically disordered protein known for its ability to modulate the biophotonic camouflage of cephalopods based on its assembly-induced osmotic properties. Its reversible self-assembly into discrete, size-controlled clusters and condensed droplets are known to depend sensitively on the net protein charge, making reflectin stimuli-responsive to pH, phosphorylation, and electric fields. Despite considerable efforts to characterize this behavior, the detailed physical mechanisms of reflectin's assembly are not yet fully understood. Here, we pursue a coarse-grained molecular understanding of reflectin assembly using a combination of experiments and simulations. We hypothesize that reflectin assembly and phase behavior can be explained from a remarkably simple colloidal model

SUBMITTER: Huang TC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11427776 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature