Publication Date:
2018-04-13
Description:
Intracellular biomolecular condensates are membraneless organelles that encompass large numbers of multivalent protein and nucleic acid molecules. The bodies assemble via a combination of liquid–liquid phase separation and gelation. A majority of condensates included multiple components and show multilayered organization as opposed to being well-mixed unitary liquids. Here, we put forward a simple thermodynamic framework to describe the emergence of spatially organized droplets in multicomponent systems comprising of linear multivalent polymers also known as associative polymers. These polymers, which mimic proteins and/or RNA have the architecture of domains or motifs known as stickers that are interspersed by flexible spacers known as linkers. Using a minimalist numerical model for a four-component system, we have identified features of linear multivalent molecules that are necessary and sufficient for generating spatially organized droplets. We show that differences in sequen...
Electronic ISSN:
1367-2630
Topics:
Physics
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