{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Mumford TR"],"funding":["NINDS NIH HHS","National Institutes of Health","NIGMS NIH HHS","NIH HHS"],"pagination":["166-179.e7"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10947474"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["15(2)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Protein clustering plays numerous roles in cell physiology and disease. However, protein oligomers can be difficult to detect because they are often too small to appear as puncta in conventional fluorescence microscopy. Here, we describe a fluorescent reporter strategy that detects protein clusters with high sensitivity called CluMPS (clusters magnified by phase separation). A CluMPS reporter detects and visually amplifies even small clusters of a binding partner, generating large, quantifiable fluorescence condensates. We use computational modeling and optogenetic clustering to demonstrate that CluMPS can detect small oligomers and behaves rationally according to key system parameters. CluMPS detected small aggregates of pathological proteins where the corresponding GFP fusions appeared diffuse. CluMPS also detected and tracked clusters of unmodified and tagged endogenous proteins, and orthogonal CluMPS probes could be multiplexed in cells. CluMPS provides a powerful yet straightforward approach to observe higher-order protein assembly in its native cellular context. A record of this paper's transparent peer review process is included in the supplemental information."],"journal":["Cell systems"],"pubmed_title":["Simple visualization of submicroscopic protein clusters with a phase-separation-based fluorescent reporter."],"pmcid":["PMC10947474"],"funding_grant_id":["R01 NS120625","R35 GM146877","R35 GM138211","S10 OD026986"],"pubmed_authors":["Gonzalez-Martinez D","Bugaj LJ","Idris A","Guan J","Chung MC","Mumford TR","Pal AA","Brackhahn E","Rae D","Rhoades E"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Simple visualization of submicroscopic protein clusters with a phase-separation-based fluorescent reporter.","description":"Protein clustering plays numerous roles in cell physiology and disease. However, protein oligomers can be difficult to detect because they are often too small to appear as puncta in conventional fluorescence microscopy. Here, we describe a fluorescent reporter strategy that detects protein clusters with high sensitivity called CluMPS (clusters magnified by phase separation). A CluMPS reporter detects and visually amplifies even small clusters of a binding partner, generating large, quantifiable fluorescence condensates. We use computational modeling and optogenetic clustering to demonstrate that CluMPS can detect small oligomers and behaves rationally according to key system parameters. CluMPS detected small aggregates of pathological proteins where the corresponding GFP fusions appeared diffuse. CluMPS also detected and tracked clusters of unmodified and tagged endogenous proteins, and orthogonal CluMPS probes could be multiplexed in cells. CluMPS provides a powerful yet straightforward approach to observe higher-order protein assembly in its native cellular context. A record of this paper's transparent peer review process is included in the supplemental information.","dates":{"release":"2024-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2024 Feb","modification":"2025-04-26T12:28:25.818Z","creation":"2025-04-06T13:58:42.21Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC10947474","cross_references":{"pubmed":["38335954"],"doi":["10.1016/j.cels.2024.01.005"]}}