Biology subjects

Cleveland, D. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Cleveland, D. W..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

The SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid phosphoprotein forms mutually exclusive condensates with RNA and the membrane-associated M protein

The multifunctional nucleocapsid (N) protein in SARS-CoV-2 binds the ~30 kb viral RNA genome to aid its packaging into the 80-90 nm membrane-enveloped virion. The N protein is composed of N-terminal RNA-binding and C-terminal dimerization domains that are flanked by three intrinsically disordered regions. Here we demonstrate that a centrally located 40 amino acid intrinsically disordered domain drives phase separation of N protein when bound to RNA, with the morphology of the resulting condensates affected by inclusion in the RNA of the putative SARS-CoV-2 packaging signal. The SARS-CoV-2 M protein, normally embedded in the virion membrane with its C-terminus extending into the virion core, independently induces N protein phase separation that is dependent on the N proteins C-terminal dimerization domain and disordered region. Three-component mixtures of N+M+RNA form condensates with mutually exclusive compartments containing N+M or N+RNA, including spherical annular structures in which the M protein coats the outside of an N+RNA condensate. These findings support a model in which phase separation of the N protein with both the viral genomic RNA and the SARS-CoV-2 M protein facilitates RNA packaging and virion assembly.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2020

TDP-43 and HSP70 phase separate into anisotropic, intranuclear liquid spherical annuli

The RNA binding protein TDP-43 naturally phase separates within cell nuclei and forms cytoplasmic aggregates in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Here we show that acetylation-mediated inhibition of TDP-43 binding to RNA produces co-de-mixing of acetylated and unmodified TDP-43 into symmetrical, intranuclear spherical annuli whose shells and cores have liquid properties. Shells are anisotropic, like liquid crystals. Consistent with our modelling predictions that annulus formation is driven by components with strong self-interactions but weak interaction with TDP-43, the major components of annuli cores are identified to be HSP70 family proteins, whose chaperone activity is required to maintain liquidity of the core. Proteasome inhibition, mimicking reduction in proteasome activity during aging, induces TDP-43-containing annuli in neurons in rodents. Thus, we identify that TDP-43 phase separation is regulated by acetylation, proteolysis, and ATPase-dependent chaperone activity of HSP70. One Sentence SummaryAcetylation of TDP-43 drives its phase separation into spherical annuli that form a liquid-inside-a-liquid-inside-a-liquid.

cell biology↗