We investigated the determinants of condensate wetting and chromatin stiffness in living cells.
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
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
Comments
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.