Poster Presentation 26th ACMM “2020 Visions in Microscopy”

SPATIO-TEMPORAL LOCALIZATION OF PROTEIN DROPLETS IN CELLS (#207)

Eugene Marfo Obeng 1 , Alex Fulcher 1 , Bhuvana Shanbhag 1 , Ian Harper 1 , Lizhong He 1
  1. Monash University, Clayton, VICTORIA, Australia

Coacervation of biomolecules is an important mechanism within cells for the organization of intracellular space and the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Herein, biomolecular liquids coexist in a state of demixing in a phenomenon called liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). The phase transition mechanism is an intrinsic characteristic of membraneless organelles (such as stress granules, germ granules, and nuclear bodies) and plays a critical role in cell physiology and pathology. The intracellular LLPS phenomenon putatively facilitates the protection, preservation, and regulation of genetic information and the trafficking of other materials within cells. In other words, it is a natural means to sequester, concentrate, transport, and release protein and nucleic acid cargoes for premium cell integrity. However, the understanding of the phenomenon is still embryonic. Particularly, it is not clear what the local and global drivers of the coacervation process are. This, therefore, demands the investigation of droplet localization and assembly dynamics in addition to their mechanical and transport characteristics with super-resolution precision. This work presents preliminary observations of the spatiotemporal characterization of protein droplets in cells using confocal and STED microscopy.