Annual Meeting

Tension between structured complexes and disordered assemblies

A 2022 annual meeting session on protein machines and disorder
Martin Beck Tanja Mittag
By Martin Beck and Tanja Mittag
Sept. 24, 2021

How are the many metabolic pathways and biochemical functions of cells spatially organized? In his early ideas of the organization of cells, Edmund Wilson stated that cells were packed with liquid (and by definition disordered) coacervates. Think oil droplets in vinegar. Then, membrane-bound organelles and structured complexes were discovered and took over the narrative thanks to the flourishing discipline of structural biology.

Recently, coacervates have found their way back into the narrative and now are known as membraneless organelles or biomolecular condensates. They compartmentalize cells extensively without membranes, and phase separation shapes many fundamental biological processes. Consequently, dysregulation of phase separation can result in disease. But the pendulum has swung back too far, and protein disorder now often is described as a necessary key ingredient for phase separation. 

The highly structured complexes in and internal structure of biomolecular condensates are not getting the attention they deserve. In our theme, we will highlight the spectrum between ordered molecular machines with precise stoichiometry and nonstoichiometric condensates, the latter of which can be disordered completely or have a more defined network structure. Both are necessary and shape functions in our cells.

Keywords: molecular mechanisms, structural biology, biophysics, soft matter physics 

Who should attend: everyone who likes molecular mechanisms and is not afraid of a bit of disorder

Theme song: Anything by Rage Against the Machine — or the Droplettes (just kidding)

This session is powered by vinaigrette and other immiscible fluids.

 

Talks

  • In situ structural analysis of the nuclear pore complex — Martin Beck, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics
  • Molecular-scale structure of a high-curvature membrane — Adam Frost, University of California, San Francisco
  • Structure and function of DNA transposition assemblies — Orsolya Barabas, University of Geneva
  • Structural adventures in bacterial protein secretion and motility — Susan Lea, National Institutes of Health
  • Building the microtubule cytoskeleton via phase transitions — Sabine Petry, Princeton University
  • Structured and disordered proteins collaborate to drive membrane remodeling — Jeanne Stachowiak, University of Texas at Austin
  • Understanding how oncogenic fusion proteins drive aberrant gene expression through phase separation — Richard Kriwacki, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
  • Decoding plasticity of the dark proteome — Edward Lemke, Johannes Gutenberg University and Institute of Molecular Biology
  • Phase behavior of intrinsically disordered prionlike domains — Tanja Mittag, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
  • Regulation of translation and deadenylation via biomolecular condensates — Julie Forman–Kay, Hospital for Sick Children
  • Polyubiquitin effects on phase transitions of shuttle protein UBQLN2 — Carlos Castañeda, Syracuse University
  • The role of phase transitions in transcription — Ibrahim Cissé, California Institute of Technology

Learn more

Check out all ten thematic symposia planned for the 2022 ASBMB annual meeting:

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition weekly.

Learn more
Martin Beck
Martin Beck

Martin Beck is a director and scientific member at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics and studies the structure, function and assembly of very large macromolecular complexes in their native environment.
 

Tanja Mittag
Tanja Mittag

Tanja Mittag is an associate member in the structural biology department at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital focusing on phase separation in biology and disease. 
 

Featured jobs

from the ASBMB career center

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Science

Science highlights or most popular articles

Transforming learning through innovation and collaboration
Award

Transforming learning through innovation and collaboration

Nov. 22, 2024

Neena Grover will receive the William C. Rose Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education at the 2025 ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

Guiding grocery carts to shape healthy habits
Award

Guiding grocery carts to shape healthy habits

Nov. 21, 2024

Robert “Nate” Helsley will receive the Walter A. Shaw Young Investigator in Lipid Research Award at the 2025 ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

Quantifying how proteins in microbe and host interact
Journal News

Quantifying how proteins in microbe and host interact

Nov. 20, 2024

“To develop better vaccines, we need new methods and a better understanding of the antibody responses that develop in immune individuals,” author Johan Malmström said.

Leading the charge for gender equity
Award

Leading the charge for gender equity

Nov. 19, 2024

Nicole Woitowich will receive the ASBMB Emerging Leadership Award at the 2025 ASBMB Annual meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

CRISPR gene editing: Moving closer to home
News

CRISPR gene editing: Moving closer to home

Nov. 17, 2024

With the first medical therapy approved, there’s a lot going on in the genome editing field, including the discovery of CRISPR-like DNA-snippers called Fanzors in an odd menagerie of eukaryotic critters.

Finding a missing piece for neurodegenerative disease research
News

Finding a missing piece for neurodegenerative disease research

Nov. 16, 2024

Ursula Jakob and a team at the University of Michigan have found that the molecule polyphosphate could be what scientists call the “mystery density” inside fibrils associated with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and related conditions.