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Updated: May 7, 2026

Single-Molecule Measurement of Protein Interaction Dynamics Within Biomolecular Condensates
Published on: January 5, 2024
DNA-binding-protein inhomogeneity in E. coli modeled as biphasic facilitated diffusion
Thomas E Kuhlman1, Edward C Cox
1Department of Physics, Center for the Physics of Living Cells, and Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801-3080, USA.
Abstract:
We have recently shown that nonspecifically bound lac repressors are spatially inhomogeneous in E. coli cells and depends upon the location of its encoding gene and the DNA compaction state [Kuhlman and Cox, Mol. Syst. Biol. 8, 610 (2012)]. Here we model this inhomogeneity as a consequence of diffusion within and exchange between two distinct intracellular phases: the condensed chromosomal DNA and an extrachromosomal compartment, the cytoplasm. We discuss the consequences of this model for the target search process.
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