The key role of solvent in condensation: Mapping water in liquid-liquid phase-separated FUS

What drives the formation of biomolecular condensates from proteins in water? The Adams group, in collaboration with colleagues from Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, measured the thermodynamic forces leading to the expulsion of water from condensates as they form through protein-protein interactions. the results are published in the Biophysical Journal. Read more.

Scheme showing the proposed water-mediated contribution of FUS to LLPS. Formation of phase-separated droplets is supported by an increase in tetrahedral coordination of water molecules (bound water; thick black) and minimization of less favorable water interactions (wrap water; red).

6. April 2021

Ellen Adams Group, Publications

Current news by our research groups

Anthony Hyman Group,Agnes Toth-Petroczy Group

CD-Code is now published in Nature Methods

CD-CODE is now published in Nature Methods. It is a “living database” that we designed for fast addition and review of information about condensates and proteins and is open to users and expert researchers who would like to contribute. Join us and visit cd-code! CD code has been a…

Agnes Toth-Petroczy Group

Computational Postdoc or PhD student (m/f/d) in protein evolution and biomolecular condensates

The Toth-Petroczy lab is an interdisciplinary research group at MPI-CBG and CSBD that studies protein evolution. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) and the Center for Systems…

Agnes Toth-Petroczy Group

We are hiring a Software Developer

Alf Honigmann Group,Anthony Hyman Group,Marcus Jahnel Group,Simon Alberti Group

A role for RNA in Stress Granules assembly

Stress granules are membraneless compartments formed by phase separation of specific molecules upon exposure to cellular stress such as oxidative stress, heat shock, or osmotic stress. The Alberti, Jahnel, Honigmann, and Hyman labs published a study in cell highlighting the role of RNA in the…

Simon Alberti Group

Filament formation by the translation factor eIF2B regulates protein synthesis in starved cells

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs), the enzymes responsible for coupling tRNAs to their cognate amino acids, minimize translational errors by intrinsic hydrolytic editing. Here, we compared norvaline (Nva), a linear amino acid not coded for protein synthesis, to the proteinogenic, branched valine…

Simon Alberti Group,Anthony Hyman Group,Moritz Kreysing Group

Condensation regulates translation

New insights into the influence of Ded1p condensation on translation comes from the Hyman, Alberti and Kreysing labs. The study published in Cell is entitled "Condensation of Ded1p Promotes a Translational Switch from Housekeeping to Stress Protein Production". Graphical abstract: Abstract: Cells…