Motif-pattern dependence of biomolecular phase separation driven by specific interactions.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic cells partition a wide variety of important materials and processes into biomolecular condensates-phase-separated droplets that lack a membrane. In addition to nonspecific electrostatic or hydrophobic interactions, phase separation also depends on specific binding motifs that link together constituent molecules. Nevertheless, few rules have been established for how these ubiquitous specific, saturating, motif-motif interactions drive phase separation. By integrating Monte Carlo simulations of lattice-polymers with mean-field theory, we show that the sequence of heterotypic binding motifs strongly affects a polymer's ability to phase separate, influencing both phase boundaries and condensate properties (e.g. viscosity and polymer diffusion). We find that sequences with large bloc

SUBMITTER: Weiner BG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8751999 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature