Elegantly, the variety of morphologies seen in nuclei can arise from varying just two parameters– condensate wetting and chromatin stiffness.
Nonwetting condensates in flexible networks cavitate and exclude fibers, while wetting condensates engulf and bundle them. Stiff networks inhibit growth.
Nonwetting condensates in flexible networks cavitate and exclude fibers, while wetting condensates engulf and bundle them. Stiff networks inhibit growth.
Comments
Stiffness arises from chromatin density, while wetting is controlled by the strength and extent of chromatin binding, with heterochromatic protein HP1alpha’s chromodomain providing strong wetting
Surface tension and stiffness– not just binding affinity or location– shape genome structure.
Elastocapillarity offers a physical basis for mesoscale nuclear morphology, with implications for gene regulation and disease.