ArticleNature communications2020
Prebiotically-relevant low polyion multivalency can improve functionality of membraneless compartments.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 94 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
94 citing papers in PubMed, 173 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Interplay of Noncovalent Interactions in Phase Separation Mediated by Tyrosine-Rich and Arginine-Rich Polypeptides.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- Increasing the Compositional Heterogeneity of Single-Chain Amphiphile Membranes Supported by Coacervate Cores Alters Stability and Properties of the Hybrid Protocells.Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids · 2026Article
- Coacervate-Mediated Lysosome-Targeting Antibody Delivery for Protein Degradation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Structural and functional role of methylene linkers in self-coacervation-mediated membrane interaction and antiviral defense.Communications chemistry · 2026Article
- Peptide Coacervates Promote Cytosolic Delivery of STING Agonists for Cancer Immunotherapy.Vaccines · 2026Article
- Asymmetry in Hydrophobicity Induces Electric Potential in Non-Charged Biomolecular Condensates.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- DNA affects the phenotype of fuel-dependent coacervate droplets.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Sequence-Modulated Active Tripeptide Condensates for Tandem Catalysis.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- Competitive MgJACS Au · 2026Article
- Complex and Messy Prebiotic Chemistry: Obstacles and Opportunities for an RNA World.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Biomolecular condensates sustain pH gradients at equilibrium through charge neutralization.Nature chemistry · 2026Article
- The Exceptional Solubility of Cyclic Trimetaphosphate in the Presence of MgLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Liquid-liquid phase separation of peptides: a molecular foundation for next-generation biomaterials.Chemical science · 2026Review
- Understanding Biases in Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation: Investigating Amino Acid Enrichments in Phase-Separating Proteins toward Peptide Design.Biomacromolecules · 2025Article
- Automated navigation of condensate phase behavior with active machine learning.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Differential stability and dynamics of DNA-based and RNA-based coacervates affect non-enzymatic RNA chemistry.Nature communications · 2025Article
- RNA-peptide interactions tune the ribozyme activity within coacervate microdroplet dispersions.Nature communications · 2025Article
34 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Multivalent polyions can undergo complex coacervation, producing membraneless compartments that accumulate ribozymes and enhance catalysis, and offering a mechanism for functional prebiotic compartmentalization in the origins of life. Here, we evaluate the impact of lower, more prebiotically-relevant, polyion multivalency on the functional performance of coacervates as compartments. Positively and negatively charged homopeptides with 1-100 residues and adenosine mono-, di-, and triphosphate nucleotides are used as model polyions. Polycation/polyanion pairs are tested for coacervation, and resulting membraneless compartments are analyzed for salt resistance, ability to provide a distinct internal microenvironment (apparent local pH, RNA partitioning), and effect on RNA structure formation. We find that coacervates formed by phase separation of the shorter polyions more effectively generated distinct pH microenvironments, accumulated RNA, and preserved duplexes than those formed by longer polyions. Hence, coacervates formed by reduced multivalency polyions are not only viable as functional compartments for prebiotic chemistries, they can outperform higher molecular weight analogues.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.