Disease-linked TDP-43 hyperphosphorylation suppresses TDP-43 condensation and aggregation
AbstractPost-translational modifications (PTMs) have emerged as key modulators of protein phase separation and have been linked to protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disorders. The major aggregating protein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the RNA-binding protein TDP-43, is hyperphosphorylated in disease on several C-terminal serine residues, which is generally believed to promote TDP-43 aggregation. Here, we show that hyperphosphorylation by Casein kinase 1δ or C-terminal phosphomimetic mutations surprisingly reduce TDP-43 phase separation and aggregation and render TDP-43 condensates more liquid-like and dynamic. Multi-scale simulations revea…
Simulation of FUS protein condensates with an adapted coarse-grained model
AbstractDisordered proteins and nucleic acids can condense into droplets that resemble the membraneless organelles observed in living cells. MD simulations offer a unique tool to characterize the molecular interactions governing the formation of these biomolecular condensates, their physico-chemical properties, and the factors controlling their composition and size. However, biopolymer condensation depends sensitively on the balance between different energetic and entropic contributions. Here, we develop a general strategy to fine-tune the potential energy function for molecular dynamics simulations of biopolymer phase separation. We rebalance protein-protein interactions against solvation …