@article{20530,
  abstract     = {Cells must coordinate DNA segregation with cytokinesis to ensure that each daughter cell inherits a complete genome. Here, we explore how DNA segregation and division are mechanistically coupled in archaeal relatives of eukaryotes, which lack Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)/Cyclins. Using live cell imaging, we first describe the series of sequential changes in DNA organization that accompany cell division in Sulfolobus, which computational modeling shows likely aid genome segregation. Through a perturbation analysis we identify a regulatory checkpoint which ensures that the compaction of the genome into two spatially segregated nucleoids only occurs once cells have assembled a division ring—which also defines the axis of DNA segregation. Finally, we show that DNA compaction and segregation depend, in part, on a ParA homologue, SegA, and its partner SegB, whose absence leads to bridging DNA. Taken together, these data show how regulatory checkpoints like those operating in eukaryotes aid high-fidelity division in an archaeon.},
  author       = {Parham, Joe and Sorichetti, Valerio and Cezanne, Alice and Foo, Sherman and Kuo, Yin Wei and Hoogenberg, Baukje and Radoux-Mergault, Arthur and Mawdesley, Eloise and Gatward, Lydia Daniels and Boulanger, Jerome and Schulze, Ulrike and Šarić, Anđela and Baum, Buzz},
  issn         = {1091-6490},
  journal      = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
  number       = {42},
  pages        = {e2513939122},
  publisher    = {National Academy of Sciences},
  title        = {{Temporal and spatial coordination of DNA segregation and cell division in an archaeon}},
  doi          = {10.1073/pnas.2513939122},
  volume       = {122},
  year         = {2025},
}

@article{21235,
  abstract     = {The condensation of charged polymers is an important driver for the formation of biomolecular condensates. Recent experiments suggest that this mechanism also controls the clustering of eukaryotic chromosomes during the late stages of cell division. In this process, interchromosome attraction is driven by the condensation of cytoplasmic RNA and Ki-67, a charged intrinsically disordered protein that coats the chromosomes as a brush. Attraction between chromosomes has been shown to be specifically promoted by a localized charged patch on Ki-67, although the physical mechanism remains unclear. To elucidate this process, we combine coarse-grained simulations and analytical theory to study the RNA-mediated interaction between charged polymer brushes on the chromosome surfaces. We show that the charged patch on Ki-67 leads to interchromosome attraction via RNA bridging between the two brushes, whereby the RNA preferentially interacts with the charged patches, leading to stable, long-range forces. By contrast, if the brush is uniformly charged, bridging is basically absent due to complete adsorption of RNA onto the brush. Moreover, the RNA dynamics becomes caged in presence of the charged patch while remaining diffusive with uniform charge. Our work sheds light on the physical origin of chromosome clustering, while also suggesting a general mechanism for cells to tune work production by biomolecular condensates via different charge distributions.},
  author       = {Sorichetti, Valerio and Robin, Paul and Palaia, Ivan and Hernandez-Armendariz, Alberto and Cuylen-Haering, Sara and Šarić, Anđela},
  issn         = {2835-8279},
  journal      = {PRX Life},
  number       = {3},
  publisher    = {American Physical Society},
  title        = {{Charge distribution of the coating brush drives interchromosome attraction}},
  doi          = {10.1103/41fd-r847},
  volume       = {3},
  year         = {2025},
}

@article{21256,
  abstract     = {Collagen IV is one of the main components of the basement membrane, a layer of material that lines the majority of tissues in multicellular organisms. Collagen IV molecules assemble into networks, providing stiffness and elasticity to tissues and informing cell and organ shape, especially during development. In this work, we develop two coarse-grained models for collagen IV molecules that retain biochemical bond specificity and coarse grain at different length scales. Through molecular-dynamics simulations, we test the assembly and mechanics of the resulting networks and measure their response to strain in terms of stress, microscopic alignment, and bond dynamics. Within the basement membrane, collagen IV networks rearrange by molecule turnover, which affects tissue organization and can be linked with enzyme activity. Here we explore network rearrangements via bond remodeling, the process of breaking and remaking of bonds between network molecules. We then investigate the effects of active (enzymatic) bond remodeling. We find that this nonequilibrium remodeling allows a network to keep its integrity under strain, while relaxing fully over a variety of timescales, a dynamic response that is unavailable to networks undergoing equilibrium remodeling.},
  author       = {Meadowcroft, Billie and Sorichetti, Valerio and Ratajczyk, Eryk and Perez Verdugo, Fernanda L and Khalilgharibi, Nargess and Mao, Yanlan and Palaia, Ivan and Šarić, Anđela},
  issn         = {2835-8279},
  journal      = {PRX Life},
  publisher    = {American Physical Society},
  title        = {{Nonequilibrium remodeling of collagen IV networks in Silico}},
  doi          = {10.1103/gdd5-rnh7},
  volume       = {3},
  year         = {2025},
}