Milanetti Edoardo, Manjunatha Karan K H, Ruocco GianCarlo, Maritan Amos, Fuxreiter Monika
Modeling and Engineering Risk and Complexity, Scuola Superiore Meridionale (SSM), Via Mezzocannone 4, 80138 Naples, Italy.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Biophys Rev (Melville). 2025 Mar 7;6(1):011401. doi: 10.1063/5.0244227. eCollection 2025 Mar.
A wide range of higher-order structures, including dense, liquid-like assemblies, serve as key components of cellular matter. The molecular language of how protein sequences encode the formation and biophysical properties of biomolecular condensates, however, is not completely understood. Recent notion on the scale invariance of the cluster sizes below the critical concentration for phase separation suggests a universal mechanism, which can operate from oligomers to non-stoichiometric assemblies. Here, we propose a model for collective interactions in condensates, based on context-dependent variable interactions. We provide the mathematical formalism, which is capable of describing growing dynamic clusters as well as changes in their material properties. Furthermore, we discuss the consequences of the model to maximize sensitivity to the environmental signals and to increase correlation lengths.
包括致密的、类似液体的聚集体在内的多种高阶结构，是细胞物质的关键组成部分。然而，蛋白质序列如何编码生物分子凝聚物的形成和生物物理特性的分子语言尚未完全被理解。最近关于低于相分离临界浓度时簇尺寸的尺度不变性的观点提出了一种通用机制，该机制可以从寡聚体作用于非化学计量聚集体。在此，我们基于上下文相关的可变相互作用，提出了一种凝聚物中集体相互作用的模型。我们提供了能够描述动态增长的簇及其材料特性变化的数学形式。此外，我们讨论了该模型在最大化对环境信号的敏感性以及增加相关长度方面的影响。
