Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Brehm Center for Diabetes Research, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Biophys J. 2018 Jul 3;115(1):3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2018.05.023.
Cellular condensates-phase-separated concentrates of proteins and nucleic acids-provide organizational structure for biochemistry that is distinct from membrane-bound compartments. It has been suggested that one major function of cellular condensates is to accelerate biochemical processes that are normally slow or thermodynamically unfavorable. Yet, the mechanisms leading to increased reaction rates within cellular condensates remain poorly understood. In this article, we highlight recent advances in microdroplet chemistry that accelerate reaction rates by many orders of magnitude as compared to bulk and suggest that similar mechanisms may also affect reaction kinetics in cellular condensates.
细胞凝聚物——蛋白质和核酸相分离的浓缩物——为生物化学提供了与膜结合隔室不同的组织结构。有人认为,细胞凝聚物的一个主要功能是加速通常较慢或热力学不利的生化过程。然而,导致细胞凝聚物中反应速率增加的机制仍知之甚少。在本文中,我们强调了微滴化学的最新进展,与体相相比,微滴化学可将反应速率提高几个数量级,并表明类似的机制也可能影响细胞凝聚物中的反应动力学。