Programmable Synthetic Biomolecular Condensates for Cellular Control

Overview

Journal Nat Chem Biol

Specialties Biochemistry
Biology
Chemistry

Date 2023 Feb 6

PMID 36747054

Authors

Yifan Dai

Mina Farag

Dongheon Lee

Xiangze Zeng

Kyeri Kim

Hye-In Son

Xiao Guo

Jonathan Su

Nikhil Peterson

Javid Mohammed

Max Ney

Daniel Mark Shapiro

Rohit V Pappu

Ashutosh Chilkoti

Lingchong You

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The formation of biomolecular condensates mediated by a coupling of associative and segregative phase transitions plays a critical role in controlling diverse cellular functions in nature. This has inspired the use of phase transitions to design synthetic systems. While design rules of phase transitions have been established for many synthetic intrinsically disordered proteins, most efforts have focused on investigating their phase behaviors in a test tube. Here, we present a rational engineering approach to program the formation and physical properties of synthetic condensates to achieve intended cellular functions. We demonstrate this approach through targeted plasmid sequestration and transcription regulation in bacteria and modulation of a protein circuit in mammalian cells. Our approach lays the foundation for engineering designer condensates for synthetic biology applications.

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