Protocol for analyzing protein liquid-liquid phase separation

(整期优先)网络出版时间:2019-01-11
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Numerouscellularfunctionsoccurinspatiallyandtemporallyconfinedregions.Recentstudieshaveshownthatmembrane-lessorganellesandcompartmentsinthecellareassembledvialiquid-liquidphaseseparation(LLPS).InvitroLLPSassaysusingrecombinantexpressedandpurifiedproteinsarenecessaryforustofurtherunderstandhowtheassemblyofphase-separatedcompartmentsisregulatedincells.However;uniformstandardsandprotocolsarelackingfortheseinvitrostudies.Here,wedescribeastep-by-stepprotocolcommonlyusedtoinvestigateinvitroLLPSusingpurifiedproteins.Thisprotocolincludesexpressionandpurificationofthestudiedproteins,inductionofLLPSofthepurifiedproteins,andstudiesofthebiophysicalpropertiesoftheliquiddropletsformedbyLLPS.TheseprotocolscanbeeasilyfollowedbyresearcherstoinvestigatetheLLPSbehaviorsofproteinsofinterest.