Hess Nathaniel, Joseph Jerelle A
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Trends Biochem Sci. 2025 Mar;50(3):206-223. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2024.12.008. Epub 2025 Jan 17.
Biomolecular condensates are membraneless organelles that concentrate proteins and nucleic acids. One of the primary components of condensates is multidomain proteins, whose domains can be broadly classified as structured and disordered. While structured protein domains are ubiquitous within biomolecular condensates, the physical ramifications of their unique properties have been relatively underexplored. Therefore, this review synthesizes current literature pertaining to structured protein domains within the context of condensates. We examine how the propensity of structured domains for high interaction specificity and low conformational heterogeneity contributes to the formation, material properties, and functions of biomolecular condensates. Finally, we propose unanswered questions on the behavior of structured protein domains within condensates, the answers of which will contribute to a more complete understanding of condensate biophysics.
生物分子凝聚体是浓缩蛋白质和核酸的无膜细胞器。凝聚体的主要成分之一是多结构域蛋白，其结构域大致可分为结构化和无序化两类。虽然结构化蛋白结构域在生物分子凝聚体中普遍存在，但其独特性质的物理影响却相对未被充分探索。因此，本综述综合了有关凝聚体中结构化蛋白结构域的现有文献。我们研究了结构化结构域对高相互作用特异性和低构象异质性的倾向如何促进生物分子凝聚体的形成、材料特性和功能。最后，我们提出了关于凝聚体中结构化蛋白结构域行为的未解决问题，这些问题的答案将有助于更全面地理解凝聚体生物物理学。
