RNA length has a non-trivial effect in the stability of biomolecular condensates formed by RNA-binding proteins
Fig 6
Density of LLPS-stabilizing contacts as a function of RNA length plotted separately for protein–protein contacts (black symbols) and protein–RNA contacts (green symbols) for a minimal RNA-binding scaffold protein model wherein scaffold proteins can phase separate via homotypic interactions (a), and an RNA-binding cognate protein model wherein cognate proteins can only phase separate via heterotypic RNA–protein interactions (b). Calculations are performed at for the RNA/scaffold system and
for the RNA/cognate protein system. Error bars depict the computed standard deviation in the number of molecular contacts. The RNA/protein concentration was kept at a constant nucleotide/protein ratio of 0.25 in both cases. (c) Critical temperature versus RNA length plot for both mixtures, scaffold proteins + RNA (red) and cognate proteins + RNA (blue).