PICNIC accurately predicts condensate-forming proteins regardless of their structural disorder across organisms

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Anna Hadarovich - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD) (Author)
  • Hari Raj Singh - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Author)
  • Soumyadeep Ghosh - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD) (Author)
  • Maxim Scheremetjew - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD) (Author)
  • Nadia Rostam - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD), University of Sulaimani (Author)
  • Anthony A. Hyman - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD), University of Sulaimani (Author)
  • Agnes Toth-Petroczy - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD), TUD Dresden University of Technology, Clusters of Excellence PoL: Physics of Life (Author)

Abstract

Biomolecular condensates are membraneless organelles that can concentrate hundreds of different proteins in cells to operate essential biological functions. However, accurate identification of their components remains challenging and biased towards proteins with high structural disorder content with focus on self-phase separating (driver) proteins. Here, we present a machine learning algorithm, PICNIC (Proteins Involved in CoNdensates In Cells) to classify proteins that localize to biomolecular condensates regardless of their role in condensate formation. PICNIC successfully predicts condensate members by learning amino acid patterns in the protein sequence and structure in addition to the intrinsic disorder. Extensive experimental validation of 24 positive predictions in cellulo shows an overall ~82% accuracy regardless of the structural disorder content of the tested proteins. While increasing disorder content is associated with organismal complexity, our analysis of 26 species reveals no correlation between predicted condensate proteome content and disorder content across organisms. Overall, we present a machine learning classifier to interrogate condensate components at whole-proteome levels across the tree of life.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number10668
JournalNature communications
Volume15
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2024
Peer-reviewedYes