An Image Analysis Pipeline for Quantifying the Features of Fluorescently-Labeled Biomolecular Condensates in Cells.

ABSTRACT: Biomolecular condensates are cellular organelles formed through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) that play critical roles in cellular functions including signaling, transcription, translation, and stress response. Importantly, condensate misregulation is associated with human diseases, including neurodegeneration and cancer among others. When condensate-forming biomolecules are fluorescently-labeled and examined with fluorescence microscopy they appear as illuminated foci, or puncta, in cells. Puncta features such as number, volume, shape, location, and concentration of biomolecular species within them are influenced by the thermodynamics of biomolecular interactions that underlie LLPS. Quantification of puncta features enables evaluation of the thermodynamic driving force for LLPS an

SUBMITTER: Baggett DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9580871 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature