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SRRM2 Phase Separation Drives Assembly of Nuclear Speckle Subcompartments

ABSTRACT: Nuclear speckles (NSs) are nuclear biomolecular condensates that are postulated to arise through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), although the detailed underlying forces driving NS formation remain elusive. SRRM2 and SON are 2 non-redundant scaffold proteins for NSs. How each individual protein governs assembly of NS protein network and the functional relationship between SRRM2 and SON are largely unknown. Here, we uncover immiscible multiphase of SRRM2 and SON within NSs. SRRM2 and SON are functionally independent, specifically regulating alternative splicing of subsets of mRNA targets, respectively. We further uncover that SRRM2 forms multicomponent liquid phase in cells to drive NS subcompartmentalization, which is reliant on homotypic interaction and heterotypic non-selective protein-RNA complex coacervation-driven multicomponent LLPS. SRRM2 RS domains form high-order oligomers, and can be replaced by oligomerizable synthetic modules, the serine residues within the RS domains, however, play an irreplaceable role in fine-tuning the liquidity of NSs.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE242898 | GEO | 2024/01/31

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The nucleus of higher eukaryotes is a highly compartmentalized and dynamic organelle consisting of several biological condensates that regulate gene expression at multiple levels. First reported more than 100 years ago by Ramón y Cajal, nuclear speckles (NS) are among the most prominent of such condensates, which were independently rediscovered multiple times and are also known as interchromatin granule clusters (ICGs), splicing speckles, or SC35 domains. Despite their prevalence, research on the function of NS is virtually restricted to colocalization analyses, since an organizing core, without which NS cannot form, remains unidentiﬁed. The monoclonal antibody SC35, which was raised against a spliceosomal extract, is a frequently used reagent to mark NS since its debut in 1990. Despite its proliﬁc use, and the consensus regarding its primary target as SRSF2, clear inconsistencies between observations made with mAb SC35, and transgenic SRSF2 constructs in the same experiment are noted. Intrigued by these disparities, we carried out a systematic re-characterization of this monoclonal antibody and its cellular targets. Unexpectedly, we found no evidence for SC35 mAb recognizing SRSF2 in human cells. In contrast, our results show that the 35 kDa namesake protein recognized by SC35 mAb is SRSF7, a related but distinct SR protein. More importantly, using mass-spectrometry, CRISPR-mediated knock-ins, immunoblotting and ﬂuorescence microscopy, we show that the main target of SC35 mAb is SRRM2, a large (300 kDa), spliceosome-associated protein with prominent intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) that sharply localizes to NS. Analysis of protein length evolution among metazoa revealed a peculiar IDR extension speciﬁcally for SRRM2 and SON in vertebrates, a hallmark of condensate formation. Combining these results, we tested a long-standing question in the study of NS: whether NS are formed around a speciﬁc core, or various SR-proteins self-assemble into a phase-separated compartment without the need for a deﬁned core. Here we show that, the elusive core of NS is formed by SON and SRRM2, since depletion of SON leads only to a partial disassembly of NS, while combined depletion of SON together with SRRM2, but not other NS associated factors, or depletion of SON in a cell line where IDRs of SRRM2 are genetically deleted, leads to a near-complete dissolution of NS. This work, therefore, paves the way to study the role of NS under diverse physiological and stress conditions.

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SRRM2 Phase Separation Drives Assembly of Nuclear Speckle Subcompartments

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