Simone Reber, Max Planck Institut for Infection Biology, Berlin (invited by Pere Roca-Cusachs)<\/i><\/p>\n
The packing and confinement of macromolecules in the cytoplasm and nucleoplasm has profound implications for cellular biochemistry. How intracellular density distributions vary and affect cellular physiology remains largely unknown. We show that the nucleus is less dense than the cytoplasm and that living systems establish and maintain a constant density ratio between these compartments. Using label-free biophotonics and theory, we show that nuclear density is set by a pressure balance across the nuclear envelope in vitro, in vivo and during early development. Nuclear transport establishes a specific nuclear proteome that exerts a colloid osmotic pressure, which, assisted by entropic chromatin pressure, draws water into the nucleus. Using C. elegans, we show that while nuclear-to-cytoplasmic (N\/C) volume ratios change during early development, the N\/C density ratio is robustly maintained. We propose that the maintenance of a constant N\/C density ratio is the biophysical driver of one of the oldest tenets of cell biology: the N\/C volume ratio. In summary, this study reveals a previously unidentified homeostatic coupling of macromolecular densities that drives cellular organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"