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Related Concept Videos

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Phase Transitions

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Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to...
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Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...
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Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing02:39

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Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
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Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation02:39

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The physical form of a substance changes on changing its temperature. For example, raising the temperature of a liquid causes the liquid to vaporize (convert into vapor). The process is called vaporization—a surface phenomenon. Vaporization occurs when the thermal motion of the molecules overcome the intermolecular forces, and the molecules (at the surface) escape into the gaseous state. When a liquid vaporizes in a closed container, gas molecules cannot escape. As these gas phase molecules...
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Particles in a solid are tightly packed together (fixed shape) and often arranged in a regular pattern; in a liquid, they are close together with no regular arrangement (no fixed shape); in a gas, they are far apart with no regular arrangement (no fixed shape). Particles in a solid vibrate about fixed positions (cannot flow) and do not generally move in relation to one another; in a liquid, they move past each other (can flow) but remain in essentially constant contact; in a gas, they move...
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A phase diagram combines plots of pressure versus temperature for the liquid-gas, solid-liquid, and solid-gas phase-transition equilibria of a substance. These diagrams indicate the physical states that exist under specific conditions of pressure and temperature and also provide the pressure dependence of the phase-transition temperatures (melting points, sublimation points, boiling points). Regions or areas labeled solid, liquid, and gas represent single phases, while lines or curves represent...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Generation of Native, Untagged Huntingtin Exon1 Monomer and Fibrils Using a SUMO Fusion Strategy
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Generation of Native, Untagged Huntingtin Exon1 Monomer and Fibrils Using a SUMO Fusion Strategy

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A Liquid to Solid Phase Transition Underlying Pathological Huntingtin Exon1 Aggregation.

Thomas R Peskett1, Frédérique Rau2, Jonathan O'Driscoll1

  • 1Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College and University College London, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.

Molecular Cell
|May 15, 2018
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Huntington's disease involves huntingtin protein aggregation. This study shows huntingtin exon1 fragments form liquid-like assemblies that transition to solid aggregates, potentially initiating disease pathology.

Keywords:
aggregationelectron tomographyfluorescence microscopyhuntingtin exon1phase transitionpolyQ

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Area of Science:

  • Neurodegenerative diseases
  • Protein misfolding and aggregation
  • Cellular biophysics

Background:

  • Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded polyglutamine (PolyQ) tract in the huntingtin protein.
  • This genetic defect leads to the formation of toxic protein aggregates within neurons.
  • Understanding the physical properties of these protein assemblies is crucial for developing therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the structural and material properties of huntingtin exon1 assemblies.
  • To explore the phase transition dynamics of these assemblies in various environments.
  • To elucidate the role of PolyQ tract length in protein aggregation.

Main Methods:

  • Combined electron tomography and quantitative fluorescence microscopy.
  • Analyzed huntingtin exon1 assemblies in mammalian cells, yeast, and in vitro.
  • Characterized the liquid-like and solid-like states of protein assemblies.

Main Results:

  • Huntingtin exon1 proteins form reversible, liquid-like assemblies driven by the PolyQ tract and proline-rich region.
  • These liquid-like assemblies can convert into solid-like, fibrillar structures both in vitro and within cells.
  • The observed phase transitions suggest a mechanism for the initiation of irreversible pathological aggregation in HD.

Conclusions:

  • Intracellular phase transitions of PolyQ proteins are a key factor in the pathological aggregation process of Huntington's disease.
  • The ability of huntingtin exon1 to form liquid-like assemblies that transition to solid-like structures provides new insights into HD pathogenesis.
  • Targeting these phase transitions could offer novel therapeutic avenues for Huntington's disease.