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Biology subjects

Freier, S. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Freier, S. M..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Nuclear speckles comprise hierarchical nanoscale interaction networks that shape molecular dynamics

Biomolecular condensates organize essential cellular processes, but how their internal architecture regulates molecular behavior in living cells remains poorly understood. Here, we use MINFLUX nanoscopy for quantitative single-molecule imaging and live-cell tracking to resolve the organization and dynamics of specific macromolecules within nuclear speckles. Rather than behaving as uniform liquid-like compartments, nuclear speckles are hierarchically organized into dynamic nanoscale interaction networks. Proteins and RNAs assemble into molecular clusters that generate transient interaction nanodomains, where individual molecules alternate between diffusion and confinement while exploring higher-order networks. Physiological and genetic perturbations selectively remodel molecular clustering and nanodomain organization, and these changes are not consistently coupled to changes in the abundance of the measured components. Together, these findings reveal a multiscale organization of nuclear speckles in which molecular clustering, transient confinement, and dynamic exchange represent distinct but interconnected features of condensate architecture in living cells.

cell biology↗

Chromatin-associated lncRNA-splicing factor condensates regulate hypoxia responsive RNA processing of genes pre-positioned near nuclear speckles

Hypoxia-induced alternative splicing (AS) regulates tumor progression and metastasis. Little is known about how such AS is controlled and whether higher-order genome and nuclear domain (ND) organizations dictate these processes. We observe that hypoxia-responsive alternatively spliced genes position near nuclear speckle (NS), the ND that enhances splicing efficiency. NS-resident MALAT1 long noncoding RNA, induced in response to hypoxia, regulates hypoxia-responsive AS. MALAT1 achieves this by organizing the SR-family of splicing factor, SRSF1, near NS and regulating the binding of SRSF1 to pre-mRNAs. Mechanistically, MALAT1 enhances the recruitment of SRSF1 to elongating RNA polymerase II (pol II) by promoting the formation of phase-separated condensates of SRSF1, which are preferentially recognized by pol II. During hypoxia, MALAT1 regulates spatially organized AS by establishing a threshold SRSF1 concentration near NSs, potentially by forming condensates, critical for pol II-mediated recruitment of SRSF1 to pre-mRNAs.

molecular biology↗