In:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, No. 29 ( 2013-07-16), p. 11692-11697
Kurzfassung:
Liquid–liquid phase transitions in complex mixtures of proteins and other molecules produce crowded compartments supporting in vitro transcription and translation. We developed a method based on picoliter water-in-oil droplets to induce coacervation in Escherichia coli cell lysate and follow gene expression under crowded and noncrowded conditions. Coacervation creates an artificial cell-like environment in which the rate of mRNA production is increased significantly. Fits to the measured transcription rates show a two orders of magnitude larger binding constant between DNA and T7 RNA polymerase, and five to six times larger rate constant for transcription in crowded environments, strikingly similar to in vivo rates. The effect of crowding on interactions and kinetics of the fundamental machinery of gene expression has a direct impact on our understanding of biochemical networks in vivo. Moreover, our results show the intrinsic potential of cellular components to facilitate macromolecular organization into membrane-free compartments by phase separation.
Materialart:
Online-Ressource
ISSN:
0027-8424
,
1091-6490
DOI:
10.1073/pnas.1222321110
Sprache:
Englisch
Verlag:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publikationsdatum:
2013
ZDB Id:
209104-5
ZDB Id:
1461794-8
SSG:
11
SSG:
12
