Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
Journal Year:
2020,
Volume and Issue:
117(50), P. 31882 - 31890
Published: Dec. 1, 2020
Significance
One
of
the
major
pathogenic
events
in
Alzheimer’s
disease
and
several
other
neurodegenerative
disorders
is
aggregation
tau
protein
into
fibrillar
structures.
Recent
reports
demonstrated
that
can
undergo
liquid–liquid
phase
separation,
forming
liquid
droplets.
The
key
finding
present
study
separation
uniquely
regulates
rate
fibrillation
mixtures
containing
isoforms
with
different
propensities.
Given
that,
due
to
alternative
splicing,
proportions
fast
slowly
aggregating
brain
vary
substantially
tauopathies,
this
previously
unrecognized
regulatory
mechanism
may
play
an
important
role
as
one
determinants
phenotypic
variability
within
class
diseases.
Annual Review of Biophysics,
Journal Year:
2020,
Volume and Issue:
49(1), P. 107 - 133
Published: Jan. 31, 2020
Many
biomolecular
condensates
appear
to
form
via
spontaneous
or
driven
processes
that
have
the
hallmarks
of
intracellular
phase
transitions.
This
suggests
a
common
underlying
physical
framework
might
govern
formation
functionally
and
compositionally
unrelated
condensates.
In
this
review,
we
summarize
recent
work
leverages
stickers-and-spacers
adapted
from
field
associative
polymers
for
understanding
how
multivalent
protein
RNA
molecules
drive
transitions
give
rise
We
discuss
valence
stickers
impacts
driving
forces
condensate
elaborate
on
can
be
distinguished
spacers
in
different
contexts.
touch
impact
sticker-
spacer-mediated
interactions
rheological
properties
show
model
mapped
known
drivers
types
Current Opinion in Neurobiology,
Journal Year:
2021,
Volume and Issue:
69, P. 131 - 138
Published: April 21, 2021
The
functions
of
the
neuronal
microtubule-associated
protein
Tau
in
central
nervous
system
are
regulated
by
manifold
posttranslational
modifications
at
more
than
50
sites.
healthy
neurons
carries
multiple
phosphate
groups,
mostly
its
microtubule
assembly
domain.
Elevated
phosphorylation
and
aggregation
widely
considered
pathological
hallmarks
Alzheimer's
disease
(AD)
other
tauopathies,
triggering
quest
for
context.
However,
patterns
physiological
surprisingly
similar
heterogenous,
making
it
difficult
to
identify
specific
as
therapeutic
targets
biomarkers
AD.
We
present
a
concise
summary
-
view
on
important
previous
recent
advances
analysis
context
Nature Communications,
Journal Year:
2020,
Volume and Issue:
11(1)
Published: June 4, 2020
Formation
of
membrane-less
organelles
via
liquid-liquid
phase
separation
is
one
way
cells
meet
the
biological
requirement
for
spatiotemporal
regulation
cellular
components
and
reactions.
Recently,
tau,
a
protein
known
its
involvement
in
Alzheimer's
disease
other
tauopathies,
was
found
to
undergo
making
it
several
proteins
associated
with
neurodegenerative
diseases
do
so.
Here,
we
demonstrate
that
tau
forms
dynamic
liquid
droplets
vitro
at
physiological
levels
upon
molecular
crowding
buffers
resemble
conditions.
Tau
droplet
formation
significantly
enhanced
by
disease-associated
modifications,
including
AT8
phospho-epitope
P301L
mutation
linked
an
inherited
tauopathy.
Moreover,
dynamics
are
reduced
these
modified
tau.
Extended
promoted
time-dependent
adoption
toxic
conformations
oligomerization,
but
not
filamentous
aggregation.
showed
greatest
oligomer
following
extended
separation.
These
findings
suggest
may
facilitate
non-filamentous
pathogenic
conformations.
Chemical Reviews,
Journal Year:
2020,
Volume and Issue:
120(11), P. 4707 - 4765
Published: Feb. 26, 2020
The
fundamental
roles
that
peptides
and
proteins
play
in
today's
biology
makes
it
almost
indisputable
were
key
players
the
origin
of
life.
Insofar
as
is
appropriate
to
extrapolate
back
from
extant
prebiotic
world,
one
must
acknowledge
critical
importance
interconnected
molecular
networks,
likely
with
components,
would
have
played
life's
origin.
In
this
review,
we
summarize
chemical
processes
involving
could
contributed
early
evolution,
an
emphasis
on
interactions
between
other
classes
organic
molecules.
We
first
mechanisms
by
which
amino
acids
similar
building
blocks
been
produced
elaborated
into
proto-peptides.
Next,
non-covalent
well
nucleic
acids,
lipids,
carbohydrates,
metal
ions,
aromatic
molecules
are
discussed
relation
possible
such
evolution
structure
function.
Finally,
describe
research
structural
alternatives
covalent
adducts
acids/peptides
propose
ample
future
breakthroughs
origin-of-life
chemistry
will
stem
investigations
systems
synergistic
different
emerge.
Nature Communications,
Journal Year:
2020,
Volume and Issue:
11(1)
Published: Sept. 15, 2020
Liquid
phase
separation
into
two
or
more
coexisting
phases
has
emerged
as
a
new
paradigm
for
understanding
subcellular
organization,
prebiotic
life,
and
the
origins
of
disease.
The
design
principles
underlying
biomolecular
have
potential
to
drive
development
novel
liquid-based
organelles
therapeutics,
however,
an
how
individual
molecules
contribute
emergent
material
properties,
approaches
directly
manipulate
dynamics
are
lacking.
Here,
using
microrheology,
we
demonstrate
that
droplets
poly-arginine
coassembled
with
mono/polynucleotides
approximately
100
fold
greater
viscosity
than
comparable
lysine
droplets,
both
which
can
be
finer
tuned
by
polymer
length.
We
find
these
amino
acid-level
differences
formation
immiscible
tunable
kinetics
further
exploited
trigger
controlled
release
droplet
components.
Together,
this
work
provides
mechanism
leveraging
sequence-level
components
in
order
regulate
multiphase
coexistence.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences,
Journal Year:
2019,
Volume and Issue:
20(21), P. 5501 - 5501
Published: Nov. 5, 2019
Advances
in
genomics
and
proteomics
have
revealed
eukaryotic
proteomes
to
be
highly
abundant
intrinsically
disordered
proteins
that
are
susceptible
diverse
post-translational
modifications.
Intrinsically
regions
critical
the
liquid–liquid
phase
separation
facilitates
specialized
cellular
functions.
Here,
we
discuss
how
modifications
of
protein
segments
can
regulate
molecular
condensation
macromolecules
into
functional
phase-separated
complexes.
Biomacromolecules,
Journal Year:
2019,
Volume and Issue:
21(2), P. 630 - 640
Published: Nov. 19, 2019
Biological
systems
employ
liquid–liquid
phase
separation
to
localize
macromolecules
and
processes.
The
properties
of
intracellular
condensates
that
allow
for
multiple,
distinct
liquid
compartments
the
impact
their
coexistence
on
composition
solute
partitioning
are
not
well
understood.
Here,
we
generate
two
three
coexisting
macromolecule-rich
by
complex
coacervation
based
ion
pairing
in
mixtures
contain
or
polyanions
together
with
one,
two,
polycations.
While
some
polyelectrolyte
order-of-addition
was
important
achieve
phases,
others
it
not,
suggesting
observed
multiphase
droplet
morphologies
energetically
favorable.
Polyelectrolytes
were
distributed
across
all
coacervate
depending
relative
interactions
between
them,
which
turn
impacted
oligonucleotide
oligopeptide
solutes.
These
results
show
ease
generating
coacervates
ability
tune
via
sharing
inherent
systems.