RNA–RNA interactions encode material properties of biomolecular condensates
ORAL · Invited
Abstract
RNA–RNA interactions play an important role in cellular functions; however, cells must limit these interactions to avoid irreversible RNA entanglement. For example, RNA-dependent RNA polymerases of single-stranded RNA viruses often use long perfectly complementary templates and rely on transient pairing of short complementary sequences for viral replication. Thus, a leading question is: how do viral RNA sequences block irreversible entanglement of the long complementary strands while simultaneously promoting weak transient RNA–RNA interactions?
In this talk, I will discuss how biomolecular condensates may represent a key strategy. By combining molecular simulations at submolecular resolutions with experiments, I will demonstrate how the degree of RNA–RNA complementarity specifies the material properties of condensates. Furthermore, I will discuss the potential critical role of this mechanism in viral replication.
*J.A.J. acknowledges start-up funds provided by the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Omenn–Darling Bioengineering Institute at Princeton University. J.A.J. also acknowledges research support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF (an advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation; grant 2023-332391), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R35GM155259, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Princeton University (PCCM) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center DMR-2011750.
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Publication: Dilimulati Aierken, Vita Zhang, Rachel Sealfon, John C. Marecki, Amy S. Gladfelter, Jerelle A. Joseph*, and Christine A. Roden*. Degree of RNA–RNA complementarity specifies biomolecular condensate morphology (in prep.)
Presenters
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Jerelle A Joseph
- Princeton University
- Chemical & Biological Engineering Princeton University, Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute
- Princeton