Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2023;2563:237-260. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2663-4_12.
While the roles of biomolecular condensates in health and disease are being intensely studied, it is equally important that their physical properties are characterized in order to achieve mechanistic understanding. Here we share some of the protocols developed in our lab for measuring thermodynamic and materials properties of condensates. These include a simple method for determining the droplet-phase concentrations of condensate components on a confocal microscope, and a method for determining the viscoelasticity of condensates by optical tweezers. These protocols are either generally applicable to biomolecular condensates or are unique for their characterization.
虽然生物分子凝聚物在健康和疾病中的作用正在被深入研究，但同样重要的是要对其物理性质进行特征描述，以实现对其机制的理解。在这里，我们分享了一些在我们实验室中开发的用于测量凝聚物热力学和材料性质的方案。这些方案包括在共聚焦显微镜上确定凝聚物组分液滴相浓度的简单方法，以及通过光镊确定凝聚物粘弹性的方法。这些方案要么普遍适用于生物分子凝聚物，要么是其特征描述所特有的。
