Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41223855›Full record

ArticleCell reports methods2025

Non-invasive measurement of biomolecular condensate interfacial tension and bending rigidity.

Thomas A Williamson, Jack O Law, Thomas Stevenson, Fynn Wolf, Carl M Jones, Endre S Tønnessen, Sushma N Grellscheid, Halim Kusumaatmaja

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In one paragraph

Article in Cell reports methods, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Thomas A WilliamsonInstitute for Multiscale Thermofluids, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland EH9 3FD, UK.
Jack O LawComputational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway.
Thomas StevensonDepartment of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway.
Fynn WolfComputational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway.
Carl M JonesComputational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway.
Endre S TønnessenComputational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway.
Sushma N GrellscheidComputational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway; Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway; Department of Biosciences, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK. Electronic address: sushma.grellscheid@uib.no.
Halim KusumaatmajaInstitute for Multiscale Thermofluids, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland EH9 3FD, UK. Electronic address: halim.kusumaatmaja@ed.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Accurate measurement of biomolecular condensates' mechanical properties is essential to understand their behavior within cells. We present FlickerPrint, an open-source Python package to determine the interfacial tension and bending rigidity of thousands of condensates using flicker spectroscopy by analyzing their shape fluctuations in confocal microscopy images. We detail the workflow and computational requirements of FlickerPrint to scale up these individual measurements to the population level. Examples of experiments in live cells and in vitro that are suitable for analysis with FlickerPrint are provided, as well as scenarios where the package cannot be used. Using these examples, we show that the results obtained are robust to changes in imaging setup, including frame rate. This implementation enables a step change in measurement capability for two key properties of biomolecular condensates: interfacial tension and bending rigidity. Moreover, the tools in FlickerPrint are also applicable for analyzing other soft, fluctuating bodies, demonstrated here using vesicles.

Indexed as

Biomolecular CondensatesSoftwareSurface TensionImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMicroscopy, ConfocalSpectrum Analysisbending rigiditybiomolecular condensateCP: computational biologyCP: imagingflicker spectroscopyinterfacial tensionvesicle

Identifiers

PMID41223855
PMCPMC12859508

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Registered trials

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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.