Partitioning of ribonucleoprotein complexes from the cellular actin cortex.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35984883.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abj3236 and PMC identifier 9390997.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The cell cortex plays a crucial role in cell mechanics, signaling, and development. However, little is known about the influence of the cortical meshwork on the spatial distribution of cytoplasmic biomolecules. Here, we describe a fluorescence microscopy method with the capacity to infer the intracellular distribution of labeled biomolecules with subresolution accuracy. Unexpectedly, we find that RNA binding proteins are partially excluded from the cytoplasmic volume adjacent to the plasma membrane that corresponds to the actin cortex. Complementary diffusion measurements of RNA-protein complexes suggest that a rudimentary model based on excluded volume interactions can explain this partitioning effect. Our results suggest the actin cortex meshwork may play a role in regulating the biomolecular content of the volume immediately adjacent to the plasma membrane.