Kelsey Gasior

Within the cellular environment, eukaryotic cells form and sequester molecular complexes to carry out essential cellular functions. One process by which this occurs is through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) whereby molecular complexes form and then phase separate, via droplet formation, from other molecular complexes. Found in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus, these membrane-less compartments create localized environments that bring components into close contact, promote biochemical reactions, and are a common mechanism for intracellular organization. Dysregulation of these highly complex, small-molecule interactions has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington’s disease. A vital tool in understanding LLPS is mathematical modeling. Well-developed, biologically faithful models encode the molecular components involved in cellular processes, as well as the physics and chemistry of their interactions in the crowded cellular geometry. We combine mathematical models, statistical analysis, and biological experiments to understand the overarching dynamics controlling LLPS. Our work seeks to understand how multiscale dynamics produce unique patterns in intracellular phase separations. How do multiphase organisms orchestrate spatial and temporal scales to achieve quasi-equilibria necessary for cellular function? What multiscale dynamics control the structure and function of droplet interfaces in multiphase systems?

Publications

1. "Partial demixing of RNA protein complexes leads to intradroplet patterning in phase-separated biological condensates" Gasior, K.; Zhao, J.; McLaughlin, G.; Forest, M.G.; Gladfelter, A.S.; Newby. J. Phys. Rev. E. 2019, 99(1):012411. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.99.012411
2. "Modeling the Mechanisms by Which Coexisting Biomolecular RNA–Protein Condensates Form" Gasior, K.; Forest, M.G.; Gladfelter, A.S.; Newby, J.M. Bull. Math. Biol., 2020, 82(12), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-020-00823-x
3. "HSP70 chaperones RNA-free TDP-43 into anisotropic intranuclear liquid spherical shells" Yu, H.; Lu, S.; Gasior, K.; Singh, D.; Vazquez-Sanchez, S.; Tapia, O.; ... Cleveland, D.W. Science 2021, 371(6529), eabb4309. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb4309