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Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates

Membraneless organelles formed through condensation of biomolecules in living cells have become the focus of sustained efforts to elucidate their mechanisms of formation and function. These condensates perform a range of vital functions in cells and are closely connected to key processes in function...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Erkamp, Nadia A., Qi, Runzhang, Welsh, Timothy J., Knowles, Tuomas P. J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9764808/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36269080
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2lc00622g
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author Erkamp, Nadia A.
Qi, Runzhang
Welsh, Timothy J.
Knowles, Tuomas P. J.
author_facet Erkamp, Nadia A.
Qi, Runzhang
Welsh, Timothy J.
Knowles, Tuomas P. J.
author_sort Erkamp, Nadia A.
collection PubMed
description Membraneless organelles formed through condensation of biomolecules in living cells have become the focus of sustained efforts to elucidate their mechanisms of formation and function. These condensates perform a range of vital functions in cells and are closely connected to key processes in functional and aberrant biology. Since these systems occupy a size scale intermediate between single proteins and conventional protein complexes on the one hand, and cellular length scales on the other hand, they have proved challenging to probe using conventional approaches from either protein science or cell biology. Additionally, condensate can form, solidify and perform functions on various time-scales. From a physical point of view, biomolecular condensates are colloidal soft matter systems, and microfluidic approaches, which originated in soft condensed matter research, have successfully been used to study biomolecular condensates. This review explores how microfluidics have aided condensate research into the thermodynamics, kinetics and other properties of condensates, by offering high-throughput and novel experimental setups.
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spelling pubmed-97648082023-01-04 Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates Erkamp, Nadia A. Qi, Runzhang Welsh, Timothy J. Knowles, Tuomas P. J. Lab Chip Chemistry Membraneless organelles formed through condensation of biomolecules in living cells have become the focus of sustained efforts to elucidate their mechanisms of formation and function. These condensates perform a range of vital functions in cells and are closely connected to key processes in functional and aberrant biology. Since these systems occupy a size scale intermediate between single proteins and conventional protein complexes on the one hand, and cellular length scales on the other hand, they have proved challenging to probe using conventional approaches from either protein science or cell biology. Additionally, condensate can form, solidify and perform functions on various time-scales. From a physical point of view, biomolecular condensates are colloidal soft matter systems, and microfluidic approaches, which originated in soft condensed matter research, have successfully been used to study biomolecular condensates. This review explores how microfluidics have aided condensate research into the thermodynamics, kinetics and other properties of condensates, by offering high-throughput and novel experimental setups. The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022-09-21 /pmc/articles/PMC9764808/ /pubmed/36269080 http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2lc00622g Text en This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
spellingShingle Chemistry
Erkamp, Nadia A.
Qi, Runzhang
Welsh, Timothy J.
Knowles, Tuomas P. J.
Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates
title Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates
title_full Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates
title_fullStr Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates
title_full_unstemmed Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates
title_short Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates
title_sort microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates
topic Chemistry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9764808/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36269080
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2lc00622g
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