[PDF][PDF] Phase separation as a missing mechanism for interpretation of disease mutations

B Tsang, I Pritišanac, SW Scherer, AM Moses… - Cell, 2020 - cell.com
It is unclear how disease mutations impact intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs),
which lack a stable folded structure. These mutations, while prevalent in disease, are
frequently neglected or annotated as variants of unknown significance. Biomolecular phase
separation, a physical process often mediated by IDRs, has increasingly appreciated roles
in cellular organization and regulation. We find that autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-and
cancer-associated proteins are enriched for predicted phase separation propensities …
Summary
It is unclear how disease mutations impact intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs), which lack a stable folded structure. These mutations, while prevalent in disease, are frequently neglected or annotated as variants of unknown significance. Biomolecular phase separation, a physical process often mediated by IDRs, has increasingly appreciated roles in cellular organization and regulation. We find that autism spectrum disorder (ASD)- and cancer-associated proteins are enriched for predicted phase separation propensities, suggesting that IDR mutations disrupt phase separation in key cellular processes. More generally, we hypothesize that combinations of small-effect IDR mutations perturb phase separation, potentially contributing to "missing heritability" in complex disease susceptibility.
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