BPCPPDYSOE21 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 22: Focus Phase Separation in Biological Systems II (joint session BP/CPP)

BP 22.3: Vortrag

Dienstag, 23. März 2021, 14:50–15:10, BPb

Surface condensation of a pioneer transcription factor on DNA — •Jose A. Morin^1,2, Sina Wittmann¹, Sandeep Choubey^1,3, Adam Klosin¹, Stefan Golfier^1,3, Anthony A. Hyman^1,5, Frank Julicher^3,4,5, and Stephan W. Grill^1,2,5 — ¹Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany. — ²Biotechnologisches Zentrum, Technische Universitat Dresden,Dresden, Germany. — ³Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — ⁴Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany. — ⁵Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, Technische Universitat Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

Transcription factors cluster into sub-micrometer sized condensates while initiating transcription of their target genes. How cells achieve liquid-like clusters of constrained size at specific locations on DNA is not known. Here we investigate the role of DNA in the nucleation of condensates, using the pioneer transcription factor KLF-4. We show that KLF-4 forms liquid-like condensates on the DNA surface at physiological concentrations, below the one required for Klf4 phase separation. Through a dialogue between theory and experiments, we demonstrate that condensation occurs via a switch-like transition from a thin adsorbed layer to a thick condensed layer on DNA that is well described as a prewetting transition on a heterogeneous substrate. This phenomenon is thus a form of surface condensation mediated by and limited to the DNA surface.