Chromosome structure and dynamics are essential for life, as the way that our genomes are spatially organized within cells is crucial for gene expression, differentiation, and genome transfer to daughter cells. There is a wide variety of methods available to study chromosomes, ranging from live-cell studies to single-molecule biophysics, which we b...
Published in ACS nano
Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) underlies the formation mechanism of membraneless biomolecular condensates locally to perform important physiological functions such as selective autophagy, but little is known about the relationship between their dynamic structural organization and biophysical properties. Here, a dark-field microscopy based si...
Published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Eukaryotic cells are complex biological systems that depend on highly connected molecular interaction networks with intrinsically disordered proteins as essential components. Through specific examples, we relate the conformational ensemble nature of intrinsic disorder (ID) in transcription factors to functions in plants. Transcription factors conta...
Published in Molecular cell
The nucleocapsid (N) protein of coronaviruses serves two major functions: compaction of the RNA genome in the virion and regulation of viral gene transcription. It is not clear how the N protein mediates such distinct functions. The N protein contains two RNA-binding domains surrounded by regions of intrinsic disorder. Phosphorylation of the centra...
Published in Bulletin of Materials Science
Wurtzite–Al1−xScxN thin films deposited by solid-state alloying of AlN with ScN exhibit high piezoelectric coefficient and large band gap that makes it a promising material for a variety of applications in piezo-electronics, electronic, acoustoelectric devices, etc. Research on epitaxial Al1−xScxN growth in wurtzite crystal structure is still at an...
Published in Emerging topics in life sciences
The cellular cytoskeleton self-organizes by specific monomer-monomer interactions resulting in the polymerization of filaments. While we have long thought about the role of polymerization in cytoskeleton formation, we have only begun to consider the role of condensation in cytoskeletal organization. In this review, we highlight how the interplay be...
Published in Emerging topics in life sciences
Intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs) - regions that do not fold into a fixed three-dimensional structure but instead exist in a heterogeneous ensemble of conformations - have recently entered mainstream cell biology in the context of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). IDRs are frequently found to be enriched in phase-separated compar...
Published in Emerging topics in life sciences
Genes under control of super-enhancers are expressed at extremely high levels and are frequently associated with nuclear speckles. Recent data suggest that the high concentration of unphosphorylated RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and Mediator recruited to super-enhancers create phase-separated condensates. Transcription initiates within or at the surfa...
Published in Developmental cell
Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) compartmentalizes transcriptional condensates for gene expression, but little is known about how this process is controlled. Here, we showed that depletion of IPMK, encoding inositol polyphosphate multikinase, promotes autophagy and lysosomal function and biogenesis in a TFEB-dependent manner. Cytoplasmic-nucle...
The nucleocapsid (N) protein of coronaviruses serves two major functions: compaction of the RNA genome in the virion and regulation of viral gene transcription. It is not clear how the N protein mediates such distinct functions. The N protein contains two RNA-binding domains surrounded by regions of intrinsic disorder. Phosphorylation of the centra...
