Probing condensate microenvironments with a micropeptide killswitch.

ABSTRACT: Biomolecular condensates are thought to create subcellular microenvironments that have different physicochemical properties compared with their surrounding nucleoplasm or cytoplasm^1-5. However, probing the microenvironments of condensates and their relationship to biological function is a major challenge because tools to selectively manipulate specific condensates in living cells are limited^6-9. Here, we develop a non-natural micropeptide (that is, the killswitch) and a nanobody-based recruitment system as a universal approach to probe endogenous condensates, and demonstrate direct links between condensate microenvironments and function in cells. The killswitch is a hydrophobic, aromatic-rich sequence with the ability to self-associate, and has no homology to human pr

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12286862 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature