Coexisting Liquid Phases Underlie Nucleolar Subcompartments

The nucleolus and other ribonucleoprotein (RNP) bodies are membrane-less organelles that appear to assemble through phase separation of their molecular components. However, many such RNP bodies contain internal subcompartments, and the mechanism of their formation remains unclear. Here, we combine i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cell Vol. 165; no. 7; pp. 1686 - 1697
Main Authors: Feric, Marina, Vaidya, Nilesh, Harmon, Tyler S, Mitrea, Diana M, Zhu, Lian, Richardson, Tiffany M, Kriwacki, Richard W, Pappu, Rohit V, Brangwynne, Clifford P
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 16.06.2016
Subjects:
Animals
Caenorhabditis elegans
Cell Nucleolus - chemistry
Cells, Cultured
Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone - analysis
Intestines - chemistry
Intestines - cytology
Mammals
Nuclear Proteins - analysis
Oocytes - chemistry
Oocytes - cytology
Ribonucleoproteins - metabolism
RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
Xenopus laevis
ISSN:1097-4172
Online Access:Get more information
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The nucleolus and other ribonucleoprotein (RNP) bodies are membrane-less organelles that appear to assemble through phase separation of their molecular components. However, many such RNP bodies contain internal subcompartments, and the mechanism of their formation remains unclear. Here, we combine in vivo and in vitro studies, together with computational modeling, to show that subcompartments within the nucleolus represent distinct, coexisting liquid phases. Consistent with their in vivo immiscibility, purified nucleolar proteins phase separate into droplets containing distinct non-coalescing phases that are remarkably similar to nucleoli in vivo. This layered droplet organization is caused by differences in the biophysical properties of the phases-particularly droplet surface tension-which arises from sequence-encoded features of their macromolecular components. These results suggest that phase separation can give rise to multilayered liquids that may facilitate sequential RNA processing reactions in a variety of RNP bodies. PAPERCLIP.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1097-4172
DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2016.04.047