PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Yaojun Zhang
AU  - Daniel S.W. Lee
AU  - Yigal Meir
AU  - Clifford P. Brangwynne
AU  - Ned S. Wingreen
TI  - Mechanical frustration of phase separation in the cell nucleus by chromatin
AID  - 10.1101/2020.12.24.424222
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.12.24.424222
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/12/24/2020.12.24.424222.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/12/24/2020.12.24.424222.full
AB  - Liquid-liquid phase separation is a fundamental mechanism underlying subcellular organization. Motivated by the striking observation that optogenetically-generated droplets in the nucleus display suppressed coarsening dynamics, we study the impact of chromatin mechanics on droplet phase separation. We combine theory and simulation to show that crosslinked chromatin can mechanically suppress droplets’ coalescence and ripening, as well as quantitatively control their number, size, and placement. Our results highlight the role of the subcellular mechanical environment on condensate regulation.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.