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Updated: Aug 8, 2025

Author Spotlight: Evaluation of Protein-Condensate Dynamics in Live Human Cells
Published on: January 5, 2024
Determining the Physico-Chemical Composition of Biomolecular Condensates from Spatially-Resolved NMR
Christian F Pantoja1, Alain Ibáñez de Opakua1, Maria-Sol Cima-Omori1
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Von-Siebold-Str. 3a, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Liquid-Liquid phase separation has emerged as fundamental process underlying the formation of biomolecular condensates. Insights into the composition and structure of biomolecular condensates is, however, complicated by their molecular complexity and dynamics. Here, we introduce an improved spatially-resolved NMR experiment that enables quantitative analysis of the physico-chemical composition of multi-component biomolecular condensates in equilibrium and label-free. Application of spatially-resolved NMR to condensates formed by the Alzheimer's disease-associated protein Tau demonstrates decreased water content, exclusion of the molecular crowding agent dextran, presence of a specific chemical environment of the small molecule DSS, and ≈150-fold increased concentration of Tau inside the condensate. The results suggest that spatially-resolved NMR can have a major impact in understanding the composition and physical chemistry of biomolecular condensates.
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