TY - JOUR T1 - Mechanical frustration of phase separation in the cell nucleus by chromatin JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2020.12.24.424222 SP - 2020.12.24.424222 AU - Yaojun Zhang AU - Daniel S.W. Lee AU - Yigal Meir AU - Clifford P. Brangwynne AU - Ned S. Wingreen Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/12/24/2020.12.24.424222.abstract N2 - 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. ER -