Polymer Stiffness Regulates Multivalent Binding and Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation.

ABSTRACT: Multivalent binding is essential to many biological processes because it builds high-affinity bonds by using several weak binding interactions simultaneously. Multivalent polymers have shown promise as inhibitors of toxins and other pathogens, and they are important components in the formation of biocondensates. Explaining how structural features of these polymers change their binding and subsequent control of phase separation is critical to designing better pathogen inhibitors and also to understanding diseases associated with membraneless organelles. In this work, we will examine the binding of a multivalent polymer to a small target. This scenario could represent a polymeric inhibitor binding to a toxic protein or RNA binding to an RNA-binding protein in the case of liquid-liquid phase

SUBMITTER: Zumbro E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7677247 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature