RNA transcription modulates phase transition-driven nuclear body assembly
Open accessAbstract
Significance: Living cells contain various membraneless organelles whose size and assembly appear to be governed by equilibrium thermodynamic phase separation. However, the dynamics of this process are poorly understood. Here, we quantify the assembly dynamics of liquid-phase nuclear bodies and find that they can be explained by classical models of phase separation and coarsening. In addition, active nonequilibrium processes, particularly rRNA transcription, can locally modulate thermodynamic parameters to stabilize nucleoli. Our findings demonstrate that the classical phase separation mechanisms long associated with nonliving condensed matter can mediate organelle assembly in living cells, whereas chemical activity may serve to regulate these processes in response to developmental or environmental conditions.
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Frequent coalescence events can lead to discrete increases in droplet volume of tens of fL every hour, although droplet count does not decrease due to simultaneous gravitational settling from the top of the solution to the glass plane.
“Frequent coalescence events can lead to discrete increases in droplet volume of tens of fL (μm3) every hour17, although the droplet count does not decrease due to simultaneous gravitational settling from the top of the solution to the glass plane.”
From Active coacervate droplets are protocells that grow and resist Ostwald ripening (2021) · cites this paper as [17]
Assuming a molecular volume of ca. 65 nm3 for K72, ATP-K72 complex coacervate droplets could show an increase in mean radius of 3-7 μm due to ripening per hour.
“Assuming a molecular volume of ca. 65 nm3 for K7229, we expect that the ATP-K72 complex coacervate droplets could show an increase in mean radius of 3–7 μm due to ripening per hour (see estimation in Supplementary Table 2)17.”
From Active coacervate droplets are protocells that grow and resist Ostwald ripening (2021) · cites this paper as [17]
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“We estimated the potential interference of coalescence and Ostwald ripening to reaction-driven growth with the following set of equations and parameters as in reference [1].”
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- Authors
- Berry, J., Weber, S. C., Vaidya, N., Haataja, M., & Brangwynne, C. P.
- Affiliations
- Princeton University (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2015-09-08
- Volume
- 112
- Issue
- 38
- Pages
- E5237-45
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC4586886
- OpenAlex
- W1963175326
- Cited by
- 501
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 66 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 13.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- HHS | National Institutes of Health (1DP2GM105437-01)
- National Science Foundation (1253035)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Research and Splicing
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Nuclear Structure and Function
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Keywords
- nucleolus, liquid-liquid phase separation, nuclear bodies, rRNA transcription, first-order phase transition, Ostwald ripening, cell size homeostasis, Caenorhabditis elegans embryo, nucleolar organizer regions, non-equilibrium condensation, biomolecular condensates
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cell Nucleolus, Cell Nucleus, Cytoplasm, Microscopy, Fluorescence, RNA, Ribosomal, Thermodynamics, Transcription, Genetic, Caenorhabditis elegans, Intranuclear Inclusion Bodies, Green Fluorescent Proteins
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