A molecular census to elucidate the demixing mechanism of membraneless organelles.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cells contain membraneless organelles that have been proposed to form via phase separation involving dense networks of multivalent intermolecular interactions. As it is notoriously difficult to experimentally distinguish punctate structures formed by phase separation from those formed by other mechanisms, this issue is controversial. To complement experimental assays, we present a computational by-the-numbers approach to phase separation. We mine publicly available datasets to perform a molecular census of prominent subnuclear organelles in mouse embryonic stem cells: nucleoli, transcriptional condensates, heterochromatin foci, and Polycomb bodies. We estimate copy numbers and intermolecular distances and compare the latter to the Debye length, which is the characteristi

SUBMITTER: Ali C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12509355 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature