Modular RNA motifs for orthogonal phase separated compartments

Jaimie Marie Stewart, Shiyi Li, Anli A. Tang, Melissa Ann Klocke, Martin Vincent Gobry, Giacomo Fabrini, Lorenzo Michele, Paul W. K. Rothemund () and Elisa Franco ()
Additional contact information
Jaimie Marie Stewart: California Institute of Technology
Shiyi Li: University of California
Anli A. Tang: University of California
Melissa Ann Klocke: University of California
Martin Vincent Gobry: Aarhus University
Giacomo Fabrini: University of Cambridge
Lorenzo Michele: University of Cambridge
Paul W. K. Rothemund: California Institute of Technology
Elisa Franco: University of California

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Recent discoveries in biology have highlighted the importance of protein and RNA-based condensates as an alternative to classical membrane-bound organelles. Here, we demonstrate the design of pure RNA condensates from nanostructured, star-shaped RNA motifs. We generate condensates using two different RNA nanostar architectures: multi-stranded nanostars whose binding interactions are programmed via linear overhangs, and single-stranded nanostars whose interactions are programmed via kissing loops. Through systematic sequence design, we demonstrate that both architectures can produce orthogonal (distinct and immiscible) condensates, which can be individually tracked via fluorogenic aptamers. We also show that aptamers make it possible to recruit peptides and proteins to the condensates with high specificity. Successful co-transcriptional formation of condensates from single-stranded nanostars suggests that they may be genetically encoded and produced in living cells. We provide a library of orthogonal RNA condensates that can be modularly customized and offer a route toward creating systems of functional artificial organelles for the task of compartmentalizing molecules and biochemical reactions.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50003-x Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-50003-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50003-x

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().