Members of the HHMI/HCIA Summer Institute at the MBL published more than 25 papers on liquid phase condensates in cells from 2012-2017. Amy Gladfelter is seated on left. At center are the institute’s co-directors (from left): Ron Vale, Jim Wilhelm and Michael Rosen. Last row, far right, is Clifford Brangwynne, whose group made the initial observation of cellular phase separations in the MBL Physiology course in 2008.
Photo by Tom Kleindinst
Working with fungus cells, Gladfelter, an MBL fellow, and her colleagues show that RNA molecules end up in the same droplet if their 3-D structures allow them to bind together through complementary base-pairing.
“RNA molecules will end up in different droplets if their secondary 3-D structures are shielding any complementarity," Gladfelter said. “But with the RNAs that condense into the same droplet, their complementary sequences are really exposed, so they can find each other and base pair to make a higher-order interaction.”
This finding is important in that it reveals a selective mechanism for forming these RNA-protein condensates—which scientists are seeing everywhere in cells but whose function is still unclear. The condensates may serve as “crucibles” for enhancing biological reactions by concentrating specific molecules together. Or they may sequester molecules that the cell doesn’t need for a particular biological process.
Liquid droplets form through the mixing of protein and RNA molecules. (Credit: EM Langdon et al, Science 2018)
Gladfelter has previously demonstrated in fungus that it’s critical that the cell undergo a liquid-liquid phase separation in order for two different biological process to occur. “But we need more examples of where it really matters for cell function,” Gladfelter said. The field needs evidence “that this is not just something that proteins and RNAs can do, but that nature has selected for it.”
There are also indications that transition of these liquid condensates to a more solid state may be a factor in protein aggregation diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, ALS and prion diseases. The current finding, Gladfelter said, “helps us understand how the right components get recruited to droplets so cells can potentially avoid this transition to an aberrant, solid state.”
“This is one of many examples in which perceptive MBL students and faculty made a significant contribution to biological research,” said David Mark Welch, MBL’s interim director of research. “And importantly, the initial observation was intensively followed up through an innovative, multidisciplinary collaboration—the HHMI/HCIA Summer Institute at MBL. These are the kinds of synergies that generate extraordinary science at MBL.”
The lead author was UNC Chapel Hill’s Erin Langdon.
Citation: “mRNA structure determines specificity of a polyQ-driven phase separation,” EM Langdon et al., Science, 2018. DOI: 10.1126/science.aar7432