Characterizing Properties of Biomolecular Condensates Below the Diffraction Limit In Vivo

Ganesh Pandey; Alisha Budhathoki; Jan-Hendrik Spille

doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-2663-4_22

Characterizing Properties of Biomolecular Condensates Below the Diffraction Limit In Vivo

Methods Mol Biol. 2023:2563:425-445. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2663-4_22.

Authors

Ganesh Pandey¹, Alisha Budhathoki¹, Jan-Hendrik Spille²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
² Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. jhspille@uic.edu.

PMID: 36227487
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2663-4_22

Abstract

Fluorescence microscopy assays enable the investigation of endogenous biomolecular condensates directly in their cellular context. With appropriate experimental designs, these assays yield quantitative information on condensate material properties and inform on biophysical mechanisms of condensate formation. Single-molecule super-resolution and tracking experiments grant access to the smallest condensates and early condensation stages not resolved by conventional imaging approaches. Here, we discuss considerations for using single-molecule assays to extract quantitative information about biomolecular condensates directly in their cellular context.

Keywords: Liquid-liquid phase separation; Multiphase assembly; Single-molecule tracking; Super-resolution microscopy.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biomolecular Condensates*
Microscopy, Fluorescence

Grants and funding

R21 AI159626/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States