Measuring the elasticity of liquid–liquid phase separation droplets with biomembrane force probe

Abstract

Numerous biomacromolecules undergo liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) inside living cells and LLPS plays important roles in their functions. The droplets formed by LLPS molecules are complex fluids and their behavior follows fluid mechanics, thus studies on rheological and material properties are required to gain full insight into the biophysical mechanism of these droplets. Biophysical force spectroscopy techniques are particularly useful in this aspect. Indeed, atomic force microscopy and optical tweezers have been used to quantify the elasticity and the viscoelasticity of LLPS droplets. The Biomembrane Force Probe (BFP) is a single-molecule technique designed to investigate liquid-like objects and is more suitable to quantify the material properties of LLPS droplets, but its usage on LLPS droplets is not yet described. Here we present an experimental protocol to measure the Young’s modulus of LLPS droplets using BFP, we believe that the application of BFP on phase separation studies can be expanded and will be very helpful in deciphering the underlying principles of LLPS.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Phase separation / Force spectroscopy / Young’s modulus