Figure 12. Phase separation in solutions of FG nups mixed with transport proteins: theoretical predictions.
For high enough values of the ratio , mixtures of FG nucleoporins and the transport proteins phase separate into a dense aggregate containing both nups and transport proteins, and a dilute solution. The black line encloses the predicted phase separation region approximately corresponding to a mixture of Imp- and Nup98 calculated at , , , and . The oblique lines connect the coexisting phases that lie on the boundary of the region. Outside of this region, FG nups and transport proteins are homogeneously mixed and no phase separation occurs. Inset: Increasing the transport protein size or decreasing hinders their penetration into the dense phase and eventually leads for their complete exclusion as shown in the red dashed lines connecting the co-existing phases: concentration of the transport proteins in the dense phase is lower than outside. Vice versa, increasing enhances the penetration of the transport proteins into the dense phase as shown in the green lines.
Figure 12—figure supplement 1. Phase separation region of Figure 12 in a double logarithmic scale.
