---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '21235'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: 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.
acknowledgement: "This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme (A.Š. and V.S., ERC grant Agreement No. 802960 to A.Š.,
I.P. and P.R.,\r\nMarie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 101034413), the German
Research Foundation (S.C-H. and A.H.-A., DFG Project No. 402723784 to S.C-H.), the
Vallee Scholarship\r\n(A.Š. and V.S.), the EMBO Young Investigator Programme (A.Š.),
and a Ph.D. fellowship from the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (A.H.-A.)."
article_number: '033010'
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Valerio
full_name: Sorichetti, Valerio
id: ef8a92cb-c7b6-11ec-8bea-e1fd5847bc5b
last_name: Sorichetti
orcid: 0000-0002-9645-6576
- first_name: Paul
full_name: Robin, Paul
id: 48c58128-57b0-11ee-9095-dc28fd97fc1d
last_name: Robin
orcid: 0000-0002-5728-9189
- first_name: Ivan
full_name: Palaia, Ivan
id: 9c805cd2-4b75-11ec-a374-db6dd0ed57fa
last_name: Palaia
orcid: ' 0000-0002-8843-9485 '
- first_name: Alberto
full_name: Hernandez-Armendariz, Alberto
last_name: Hernandez-Armendariz
- first_name: Sara
full_name: Cuylen-Haering, Sara
last_name: Cuylen-Haering
- first_name: Anđela
full_name: Šarić, Anđela
id: bf63d406-f056-11eb-b41d-f263a6566d8b
last_name: Šarić
orcid: 0000-0002-7854-2139
citation:
ama: Sorichetti V, Robin P, Palaia I, Hernandez-Armendariz A, Cuylen-Haering S,
Šarić A. Charge distribution of the coating brush drives interchromosome attraction.
PRX Life. 2025;3(3). doi:10.1103/41fd-r847
apa: Sorichetti, V., Robin, P., Palaia, I., Hernandez-Armendariz, A., Cuylen-Haering,
S., & Šarić, A. (2025). Charge distribution of the coating brush drives interchromosome
attraction. PRX Life. American Physical Society. https://doi.org/10.1103/41fd-r847
chicago: Sorichetti, Valerio, Paul Robin, Ivan Palaia, Alberto Hernandez-Armendariz,
Sara Cuylen-Haering, and Anđela Šarić. “Charge Distribution of the Coating Brush
Drives Interchromosome Attraction.” PRX Life. American Physical Society,
2025. https://doi.org/10.1103/41fd-r847.
ieee: V. Sorichetti, P. Robin, I. Palaia, A. Hernandez-Armendariz, S. Cuylen-Haering,
and A. Šarić, “Charge distribution of the coating brush drives interchromosome
attraction,” PRX Life, vol. 3, no. 3. American Physical Society, 2025.
ista: Sorichetti V, Robin P, Palaia I, Hernandez-Armendariz A, Cuylen-Haering S,
Šarić A. 2025. Charge distribution of the coating brush drives interchromosome
attraction. PRX Life. 3(3), 033010.
mla: Sorichetti, Valerio, et al. “Charge Distribution of the Coating Brush Drives
Interchromosome Attraction.” PRX Life, vol. 3, no. 3, 033010, American
Physical Society, 2025, doi:10.1103/41fd-r847.
short: V. Sorichetti, P. Robin, I. Palaia, A. Hernandez-Armendariz, S. Cuylen-Haering,
A. Šarić, PRX Life 3 (2025).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2026-02-16T14:50:32Z
date_published: 2025-08-11T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-02-17T11:16:26Z
day: '11'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: AnSa
- _id: EdHa
doi: 10.1103/41fd-r847
ec_funded: 1
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 1702b9bdbfd902a7c08aa4f1479b390d
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2026-02-17T11:12:30Z
date_updated: 2026-02-17T11:12:30Z
file_id: '21287'
file_name: 2025_PRXLife_Sorichetti.pdf
file_size: 3732843
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2026-02-17T11:12:30Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 3'
issue: '3'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '08'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: eba2549b-77a9-11ec-83b8-a81e493eae4e
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '802960'
name: 'Non-Equilibrium Protein Assembly: from Building Blocks to Biological Machines'
- _id: fc2ed2f7-9c52-11eb-aca3-c01059dda49c
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '101034413'
name: 'IST-BRIDGE: International postdoctoral program'
- _id: 349b6ff1-11ca-11ed-8bc3-f006047c2eeb
name: EMBO Young Investigator Program - Andela Saric
publication: PRX Life
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 2835-8279
publication_status: published
publisher: American Physical Society
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: Charge distribution of the coating brush drives interchromosome attraction
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 3
year: '2025'
...