Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy

Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy

Phase-Contrast Microscopes
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

A Glimpse into the Initial Microsecond of Biomolecular Condensation.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same author

Knowledge Distillation of a Protein Language Model Yields a Foundational Implicit Solvent Model.

Journal of chemical theory and computation·2026

Same author

Position-Specific Hydrogen Isotope Analysis of Palmitic Acid by GC-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry.

Analytical chemistry·2026

Same author

MOFF2: A Transferable Coarse-Grained Protein Force Field for Predictive Condensate Simulations.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

From molecular motors to chromosome architecture.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

Cellular water-potential sensing through biomolecular condensation.

Nature·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2025

Temperature-Controlled Assembly and Characterization of a Droplet Interface Bilayer

Temperature-Controlled Assembly and Characterization of a Droplet Interface Bilayer

Published on: April 19, 2021

Microphase separation produces interfacial environment within diblock biomolecular condensates.

Andrew P Latham¹, Longchen Zhu², Dina A Sharon¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States.

|March 26, 2025

Summary

Intrinsically disordered proteins drive cellular organization through phase separation. This study reveals how amino acid sequences dictate condensate properties, uncovering new mechanisms for protein organization.

Keywords:

biochemistry biomolecular condensates chemical biology hydrophobicity molecular biophysics molecular dynamics multiscale simulations none structural biology

More Related Videos

Single-Molecule Imaging of Lateral Mobility and Ion Channel Activity in Lipid Bilayers using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence TIRF Microscopy

Single-Molecule Imaging of Lateral Mobility and Ion Channel Activity in Lipid Bilayers using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence TIRF Microscopy

Published on: February 17, 2023

Chemical Dimerization-Induced Protein Condensates on Telomeres

Chemical Dimerization-Induced Protein Condensates on Telomeres

Published on: April 12, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 20, 2025

Temperature-Controlled Assembly and Characterization of a Droplet Interface Bilayer

Temperature-Controlled Assembly and Characterization of a Droplet Interface Bilayer

Published on: April 19, 2021

Single-Molecule Imaging of Lateral Mobility and Ion Channel Activity in Lipid Bilayers using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence TIRF Microscopy

Single-Molecule Imaging of Lateral Mobility and Ion Channel Activity in Lipid Bilayers using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence TIRF Microscopy

Published on: February 17, 2023

Chemical Dimerization-Induced Protein Condensates on Telomeres

Chemical Dimerization-Induced Protein Condensates on Telomeres

Published on: April 12, 2021

Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Cell Biology
Biophysics

Background:

Phase separation of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) is crucial for cellular organization.
Understanding the sequence-structure-property relationships in protein condensates (the molecular grammar) is challenging due to limited high-resolution structural probing methods.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the molecular mechanisms governing the stability and organization of protein condensates.
To establish a connection between the amino acid sequence of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) and the physical properties of their phase-separated condensates.

Main Methods:

Multiscale simulations were employed to model systems of diblock elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs).
Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) experiments were conducted using environmentally sensitive fluorophores to probe microenvironments within condensates.
Systematic exploration of ELP systems with varying amino acid compositions.

Main Results:

Simulations accurately reproduced experimental variations in condensate stability upon amino acid substitution.
Distinct microenvironments within single condensates were identified and experimentally verified.
The interspersion of hydrophilic and hydrophobic residues, coupled with a lack of secondary structure, creates a unique interfacial environment.
Condensate stability strongly correlates with interfacial hydrophobicity, and protein-water hydrogen bonds are prevalent.

Conclusions:

The study uncovers novel mechanisms governing the stability and organization of protein condensates.
The findings provide insights into the 'molecular grammar' of intrinsically disordered proteins, linking sequence to condensate properties.
These mechanisms may have broad applicability in understanding cellular organization and designing biomolecular systems.