Abstract
Interfacial tension plays an important role in governing the dynamics of droplet coalescence and determining how condensates interact with and deform lipid membranes and biological filaments. We demonstrate that an interfacial tension-only model is inadequate for describing stress granules in live cells. Harnessing a high-throughput flicker spectroscopy pipeline to analyze the shape fluctuations of tens of thousands of stress granules, we find that the measured fluctuation spectra require an additional contribution, which we attribute to elastic bending deformation. We also show that stress granules have an irregular, nonspherical base shape. These results suggest that stress granules are viscoelastic droplets with a structured interface, rather than simple Newtonian liquids. Furthermore, we observe that the measured interfacial tensions and bending rigidities span a range of several orders of magnitude. Hence, different types of stress granules (and more generally, other biomolecular condensates) can only be differentiated via large-scale surveys.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
