Cycles of protein condensation and discharge in nuclear organelles studied by fluorescence lifetime imaging

Artem Pliss, Svitlana M. Levchenko, Lixin Liu, Xiao Peng, Tymish Y. Ohulchanskyy, Indrajit Roy, Andrey N. Kuzmin, Junle Qu () and Paras N. Prasad ()
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Artem Pliss: State University of New York
Svitlana M. Levchenko: Shenzhen University
Lixin Liu: Xidian University
Xiao Peng: Shenzhen University
Tymish Y. Ohulchanskyy: State University of New York
Indrajit Roy: University of Delhi
Andrey N. Kuzmin: State University of New York
Junle Qu: Shenzhen University
Paras N. Prasad: State University of New York

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Nuclear organelles are viscous droplets, created by concentration-dependent condensation and liquid–liquid phase separation of soluble proteins. Nuclear organelles have been actively investigated for their role in cellular regulation and disease. However, these studies are highly challenging to perform in live cells, and therefore, their physico-chemical properties are still poorly understood. In this study, we describe a fluorescence lifetime imaging approach for real-time monitoring of protein condensation in nuclear organelles of live cultured cells. This approach unravels surprisingly large cyclic changes in concentration of proteins in major nuclear organelles including nucleoli, nuclear speckles, Cajal bodies, as well as in the clusters of heterochromatin. Remarkably, protein concentration changes are synchronous for different organelles of the same cells. We propose a molecular mechanism responsible for synchronous accumulations of proteins in the nuclear organelles. This mechanism can serve for general regulation of cellular metabolism and contribute to coordination of gene expression.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08354-3

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