Monitoring Disassembly and Cargo Release of Phase-Separated Peptide Coacervates with Native Mass Spectrometry

• Engineering liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS)of proteinsand peptides holds great promise for the development of therapeuticcarriers with intracellular delivery capability but requires accuratedetermination of their assembly properties in vitro, usually with fluorescently labeled cargo. Here, we use mass spectrometry(MS) to investigate redox-sensitive coacervate microdroplets (thedense phase formed during LLPS) assembled from a short His- and Tyr-richpeptide. We can monitor the enrichment of a reduced peptide in dilutephase as the microdroplets dissolve triggered by their redox-sensitiveside chain, thus providing a quantitative readout for disassembly.Furthermore, MS can detect the release of a short peptide from coacervatesunder reducing conditions. In summary, with MS, we can monitor thedisassembly and cargo release of engineered coacervates used as therapeuticcarriers without the need for additional labels.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)