Berlin 2018 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 18: Focus: Droplets (joint session DY/CPP)
CPP 18.4: Vortrag
Montag, 12. März 2018, 16:15–16:30, BH-N 334
Protein Interactions Control Dynamics Of Liquid Compartments — •Tyler S. Harmon1,2, Anthony A. Hyman2, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01187 Dresden, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Molecular Cell Biology, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Membraneless organelles form in cells due to liquid-liquid phase separation and have been implicated in a range of functions. The physical properties of these compartments are important for their function and thus should be tuned to match their intended purpose. Multiple diseases are associated with a hardening transition where these liquid compartments transition from a functional liquid-like state to an aberrant solid-like state over a long period of time. Other compartments appear to be designed to mature naturally from a liquid into a more solid compartment. Therefore, the physical mechanism controlling the liquid to solid transition is at the heart of how cells regulate and control these compartments.
We designed a three-dimensional polymer lattice model to investigate mechanisms for hardening in liquid compartments. We explore several mechanisms affecting the time dependence of protein dynamics. This allows us to test which protein properties are important for controlling the slowing of the dynamics of the liquid compartments. We analyzed the transition to a solid-like state by quantifying the time dependence of diffusion rates, density, and reversibility of dissolution. These results are a promising first step to reach a molecular picture of the hardening process.