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  • Protocol to alter a protein's phase separation capacity to control cell fate transitions.

Protocol to alter a protein's phase separation capacity to control cell fate transitions.

STAR protocols (2021-10-28)
Qian Ma, Jia Wang, Haopeng Yu, Junyi Sun, Jun Sun, Jiahao Chen, Yangyinhui Yu, Peihang Fang, Qi Tian, Junjun Ding
ABSTRACT

Phase separation of proteins regulates transcription. Here, we present a protocol to manipulate phase separation capacity of a protein. We use this protocol to disrupt phase separation by mutating residues at intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). Further, we rescue the disabled phase separation by fusing an IDR known to drive phase separation. Phase separation promotes cell fate transitions, whereas disruption of phase attenuates the transitions. The major challenge is how to effectively predict mutation residues. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Wang et al. (2021).

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
2-Mercaptoethanol, ≥99.0%
Sigma-Aldrich
Bovine Serum Albumin, heat shock fraction, pH 7, ≥98%
Sigma-Aldrich
Leukocyte Alkaline Phosphatase Kit, based on naphthol AS-BI and fast red violet LB
Millipore
Benzonase® Nuclease, ≥250 units/μL, ≥90% (SDS-PAGE), recombinant, expressed in E. coli, buffered aqueous glycerol solution
Sigma-Aldrich
DAPI, for nucleic acid staining