Collaborative team deciphers the protein sequence-encoded mechanism that drives phase separation
From the WashU School of Engineering & Applied Science News…
An international research collaboration including engineers from Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a protein sequence mechanism that triggers phase separation deep within a single cell.
Their findings, published in Cell, could provide insights into age-related diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and some cancers.
The team–comprised of scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden and Washington University, including Rohit Pappu, the Edwin H. Murthy Professor of Engineering at WashU’s School of Engineering & Applied Science and postdoctoral students Alex Holehouse and Jeong-Mo Choi — developed a combination of experimental and theoretical analysis to uncover a protein sequence that underlies phase separation of prion-like RNA binding proteins.