{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Kar M"],"funding":["European Research Council","NINDS NIH HHS","Wellcome Trust"],"pagination":["4408"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11116469"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["15(1)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Phase separation and percolation contribute to phase transitions of multivalent macromolecules. Contributions of percolation are evident through the viscoelasticity of condensates and through the formation of heterogeneous distributions of nano- and mesoscale pre-percolation clusters in sub-saturated solutions. Here, we show that clusters formed in sub-saturated solutions of FET (FUS-EWSR1-TAF15) proteins are affected differently by glutamate versus chloride. These differences on the nanoscale, gleaned using a suite of methods deployed across a wide range of protein concentrations, are prevalent and can be unmasked even though the driving forces for phase separation remain unchanged in glutamate versus chloride. Strikingly, differences in anion-mediated interactions that drive clustering saturate on the micron-scale. Beyond this length scale the system separates into coexisting phases. Overall, we find that sequence-encoded interactions, mediated by solution components, make synergistic and distinct contributions to the formation of pre-percolation clusters in sub-saturated solutions, and to the driving forces for phase separation."],"journal":["Nature communications"],"pubmed_title":["Solutes unmask differences in clustering versus phase separation of FET proteins."],"pmcid":["PMC11116469"],"funding_grant_id":["209194/Z/17/Z","337969","R01 NS121114"],"pubmed_authors":["Felekyan S","Kar M","Dar F","Hyman AA","Seidel CAM","Welsh TJ","Knowles TPJ","Pappu RV","Ausserwoger H","Chauhan G","Kamath AR","Vogel LT"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Solutes unmask differences in clustering versus phase separation of FET proteins.","description":"Phase separation and percolation contribute to phase transitions of multivalent macromolecules. Contributions of percolation are evident through the viscoelasticity of condensates and through the formation of heterogeneous distributions of nano- and mesoscale pre-percolation clusters in sub-saturated solutions. Here, we show that clusters formed in sub-saturated solutions of FET (FUS-EWSR1-TAF15) proteins are affected differently by glutamate versus chloride. These differences on the nanoscale, gleaned using a suite of methods deployed across a wide range of protein concentrations, are prevalent and can be unmasked even though the driving forces for phase separation remain unchanged in glutamate versus chloride. Strikingly, differences in anion-mediated interactions that drive clustering saturate on the micron-scale. Beyond this length scale the system separates into coexisting phases. Overall, we find that sequence-encoded interactions, mediated by solution components, make synergistic and distinct contributions to the formation of pre-percolation clusters in sub-saturated solutions, and to the driving forces for phase separation.","dates":{"release":"2024-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2024 May","modification":"2026-03-27T16:33:30.45Z","creation":"2025-08-27T03:07:18.435Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC11116469","cross_references":{"pubmed":["38782886"],"doi":["10.1038/s41467-024-48775-3"]}}