8. August 2023
How Protein Condensates Age
Protein condensates are dense droplets of proteins that organise the interior of the cell. Curiously, they age, meaning their physical properties such as viscosity change over time. In our paper "Theory of rheology and aging of protein condensates" published in PRX Life, we study how…
24. February 2023
How do single molecules move in and out of condensates?
Cells organize their interior into functional compartments, some without an enclosing membrane. These dense liquid droplets of biomolecules coexist with the surrounding environment like oil drops in water constantly exchanging material with it. How is the random movement of single…
30. November 2022
Molecular Assembly Lines in Active Droplets
Cells assemble structures that have lots of molecules. How can such complicated structures be reliably assembled? We propose that cells could be organizing an assembly line process for the construction. We show how this could be organized inside droplets. In this video we explain our recent…
28. January 2022
Phase Transition in Disease
In this video and the accompanying Cell paper, the Tony Hyman and Simon Alberti groups at Max Planck Institute propose an interesting idea that aging cells fail to maintain the liquid phase of ALS-associated protein FUS. The FUS liquid compartment instead forms disease-link solid phase…
28. January 2022
Phase separation in cell polarity
In this video abstract, Shamba Saha tells you about his recent publication in Cell, “Polar Positioning of Phase-Separated Liquid Compartments in Cells Regulated by an mRNA Competition Mechanism.” Learn more in the full paper Saha et al. (2016) published in Cell,…
28. January 2022
Regulation of centrosome assembly by phosphorylation
In this video abstract, Oliver Wueseke tells you about his recent publication in Biology Open, “Polo-like kinase phosphorylation determines C.elegans centrosome size and density by biasing SPD-5 toward an assembly-competent conformation,” Learn more in the full paper Wueseke et al. (2016)…
28. January 2022
Building a synthetic centrosome
The centrosome is a structure in cells which is built every time the cell prepares to divide. In this video abstract, Jeff Woodruff explains how to build a centrosome in a test tube from purified proteins. He found that the centrosome acts like a sponge, which selectively soaks up the proteins…
28. January 2022
Microtubule nucleation through phase separation
Cells must build cytoskeleton structures, such as microtubules, where they are locally needed within the cell, but how do they do this? In this video abstract, Amayra Hernández-Vega explains that in a test tube, microtubules can be formed locally through phase separation. She also found that the…