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Updated: Jul 22, 2025

Real-time Imaging of Single Engineered RNA Transcripts in Living Cells Using Ratiometric Bimolecular Beacons
Published on: August 6, 2014
Targeted RNA condensation in living cells via genetically encodable triplet repeat tags
Zhaolin Xue1, Kewei Ren1,2, Rigumula Wu1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Abstract:
Living systems contain various membraneless organelles that segregate proteins and RNAs via liquid-liquid phase separation. Inspired by nature, many protein-based synthetic compartments have been engineered in vitro and in living cells. Here, we introduce a genetically encoded CAG-repeat RNA tag to reprogram cellular condensate formation and recruit various non-phase-transition RNAs for cellular modulation. With the help of fluorogenic RNA aptamers, we have systematically studied the formation dynamics, spatial distributions, sizes and densities of these cellular RNA condensates. The cis- and trans-regulation functions of these CAG-repeat tags in cellular RNA localization, life time, RNA-protein interactions and gene expression have also been investigated. Considering the importance of RNA condensation in health and disease, we expect that these genetically encodable modular and self-assembled tags can be widely used for chemical biology and synthetic biology studies.
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