Characterization of RNA content in individual phase-separated coacervate microdroplets

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Damian Wollny - , Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (Author)
  • Benjamin Vernot - , Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Author)
  • Jie Wang - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Author)
  • Maria Hondele - , ETH Zurich, University of Basel (Author)
  • Aram Safrastyan - , Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (Author)
  • Franziska Aron - , Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (Author)
  • Julia Micheel - , Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (Author)
  • Zhisong He - , University of Basel (Author)
  • Anthony Hyman - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Author)
  • Karsten Weis - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • J. Gray Camp - , F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, University of Basel (Author)
  • T. Y.Dora Tang - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Clusters of Excellence PoL: Physics of Life (Author)
  • Barbara Treutlein - , Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, ETH Zurich (Author)

Abstract

Condensates formed by complex coacervation are hypothesized to have played a crucial part during the origin-of-life. In living cells, condensation organizes biomolecules into a wide range of membraneless compartments. Although RNA is a key component of biological condensates and the central component of the RNA world hypothesis, little is known about what determines RNA accumulation in condensates and to which extend single condensates differ in their RNA composition. To address this, we developed an approach to read the RNA content from single synthetic and protein-based condensates using high-throughput sequencing. We find that certain RNAs efficiently accumulate in condensates. These RNAs are strongly enriched in sequence motifs which show high sequence similarity to short interspersed elements (SINEs). We observe similar results for protein-derived condensates, demonstrating applicability across different in vitro reconstituted membraneless organelles. Thus, our results provide a new inroad to explore the RNA content of phase-separated droplets at single condensate resolution.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number2626
JournalNature communications
Volume13
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 12 May 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 35551426