Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 17: Protein Structure and Dynamics
BP 17.5: Talk
Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 16:00–16:15, BAR 0106
Single-chain and condensed-state behavior of intrinsically disordered nuclear proteins in bulk and confinement — •Janka Bauer1, Lukas Stelzl1,2,3, Dorothee Dormann2,3, and Arash Nikoubashman1 — 1Institute of Physics, JGU Mainz, Germany — 2Biocenter, Institute of Molecular Physiology, JGU Mainz, Germany — 3Institute of Molecular Biology, Mainz, Germany
The liquid-liquid phase separation of intrinsically disordered proteins plays an integral part for the formation of membraneless organelles in cells, which in turn have key functional and regulatory roles. To better understand the complex relation between the sequence and self-assembly of these heteropolymers, we perform molecular simulations of the low-complexity domains of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNPA1) and Fused in Sarcoma (FUS). For hnRNPA1, we systematically analyze how the conformation and phase behavior are affected by the number of aromatic residues within the examined sequences in both single-chain and condensed state simulations. Our observations strongly support the hypothesis that aromatic residues play a dominant role for condensation, which is further corroborated by a detailed analysis of the intermolecular contacts. To mimic more closely conditions prevalent in cellular environments, we perform simulations of hnRNPA1 and FUS in spherical confinement, where we systematically vary the fraction of the crowding agent polyethylene glycol.