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- Title
Self-emergent vortex flow of microtubule and kinesin in cell-sized droplets under water/water phase separation.
- Authors
Sakuta, Hiroki; Nakatani, Naoki; Torisawa, Takayuki; Sumino, Yutaka; Tsumoto, Kanta; Oiwa, Kazuhiro; Yoshikawa, Kenichi
- Abstract
By facilitating a water/water phase separation (w/wPS), crowded biopolymers in cells form droplets that contribute to the spatial localization of biological components and their biochemical reactions. However, their influence on mechanical processes driven by protein motors has not been well studied. Here, we show that the w/wPS droplet spontaneously entraps kinesins as well as microtubules (MTs) and generates a micrometre-scale vortex flow inside the droplet. Active droplets with a size of 10–100 µm are generated through w/wPS of dextran and polyethylene glycol mixed with MTs, molecular-engineered chimeric four-headed kinesins and ATP after mechanical mixing. MTs and kinesin rapidly created contractile network accumulated at the interface of the droplet and gradually generated vortical flow, which can drive translational motion of a droplet. Our work reveals that the interface of w/wPS contributes not only to chemical processes but also produces mechanical motion by assembling species of protein motors in a functioning manner. Water/water phase separation in cells facilitates the spatial localization of biological components, but its influence on mechanical processes driven by protein motors has been largely overlooked. Here, the interface of water/water phase separation is shown to produce mechanical motion by spontaneously entrapping kinesins and microtubules and generating a micrometre-scale vortex flow inside cell-sized droplets.
- Subjects
PHASE separation; KINESIN; MOLECULAR motor proteins; MICROTUBULES; CHEMICAL processes; POWER transmission; TRANSLATIONAL motion
- Publication
Communications Chemistry, 2023, Vol 6, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2399-3669
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s42004-023-00879-5