{
  "abstract": "Cells experience epigenetic, osmotic, and mechanical perturbations that reorganize chromatin, yet how these distinct cues are integrated into a common physical response of the nucleus remains unclear. Here, we identify nuclear hydration as a central state variable that links microenvironmental perturbations to chromatin phase organization and nuclear mechanics. We develop a non-equilibrium mesoscale model that couples chromatin elasticity, water transport, and epigenetic reaction-diffusion kinetics. In this framework, chromatin behaves as a deformable polymer that segregates into coexisting water-rich euchromatic and water-poor heterochromatic phases, whose compositions and morphologies are regulated by hydration-dependent swelling, elastic strain, and histone-mark interconversion. The model predicts that epigenetic perturbations, osmotic shocks, and volume-changing mechanical loads reorganize chromatin by shifting intranuclear water content, nuclear volume, and euchromatin-heterochromatin phase balance. It further predicts that anisotropic forces impose directional strain, driving heterochromatin elongation, alignment, and lamellar transitions. Quantitative comparisons with super-resolution imaging, AFM and chromatin-accessibility measurement - across pharmacological, osmotic, and mechanical perturbations including confinement and micropatterning - support these predictions. Together, our results establish a chemo-mechano-osmotic framework in which nuclear hydration integrates biochemical and biophysical cues to regulate chromatin organization across scales.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Aayush Kant",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9898-1852"
    },
    {
      "name": "Monika Dhankhar",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5099-8863"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rohit Joshi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zixian Guo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Vinayak Vinayak"
    },
    {
      "name": "Diana I. Cruz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kedi Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ivan V. Surovtsev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Megan King"
    },
    {
      "name": "Abhijit Majumder"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jung-Hwan Lee"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hae-Won Kim"
    },
    {
      "name": "Elizabeth Hinde"
    },
    {
      "name": "Guilherme PF Nader"
    },
    {
      "name": "Vivek B. Shenoy",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2645-1016"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8997zrgf2h2y9.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.29.762828",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762828v1.full",
  "id": "8997zrgf2h2y9",
  "issns": [
    "2692-8205"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762828v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "biophysics"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762828v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13734135",
  "pmid": "42990421",
  "published": "2026-10-29",
  "publisher": "Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Preprints",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8997zrgf2h2y9.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:07Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.29.762828",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762828v1"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T12:23:46Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13734135",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.29.762828"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "biorxiv:biophysics",
      "subfield": "biophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Osmotic Coupling of Mechanics and Epigenetics Regulates Chromatin Phase Organization",
  "title_text": "Osmotic Coupling of Mechanics and Epigenetics Regulates Chromatin Phase Organization",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:23:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8997zrgf2h2y9",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}