PLCγ1 promotes phase separation of the T cell signaling clusters

SummaryThe T cell receptor (TCR) pathway receives, processes, and amplifies the signal from pathogenic antigens to the activation of T cells. Although major components in this pathway have been identified, the knowledge on how individual components cooperate to effectively transduce signals remains limited. Phase separation emerges as a biophysical principle in organizing signaling molecules into liquid-like condensates. Here we report that phospholipase PLCγ1 promotes phase separation of LAT, a key adaptor protein in the TCR pathway. PLCγ1 directly crosslinks LAT through its two SH2 domains. PLCγ1 also protects LAT from dephosphorylation by the phosphatase CD45 and promotes LAT-dependent ERK and SLP76 activation. Intriguingly, a non-monotonic effect of PLCγ1 on LAT clustering was discovered. Computer simulations, based on patchy particles, revealed how the cluster size is regulated by protein compositions. Together, these results define a critical function of PLCγ1 in promoting phase separation of the LAT complex and TCR signal transduction.

Bridging-induced microphase separation: photobleaching experiments, chromatin domains and the need for active reactions

We review the mechanism and consequences of the ‘bridging-induced attraction’, a generic biophysical principle that underpins some existing models for chromosome organization in 3D. This attraction, which was revealed in polymer physics-inspired computer simulations, is a generic clustering tendency arising in multivalent chromatin-binding proteins, and it provides an explanation for the biogenesis of nuclear bodies and transcription factories via microphase separation. Including post-translational modification reactions involving these multivalent proteins can account for the fast dynamics of the ensuing clusters, as is observed via microscopy and photobleaching experiments. The clusters found in simulations also give rise to chromatin domains that conform well with the observation of A/B compartments in HiC experiments.