Polyanionic C-Terminal IDR-Dependent Phase Separation of DrHsp17 Contributes to Acid Stress Protection in Deinococcus radiodurans
- 1Institute of Biophysics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- 2College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- 3Zhejiang University-Lishui Joint Innovation Center for Life and Health & Lishui Lvgu Institute for Life and Health, Lishui 323010, China
Abstract
The extremophilic bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is a promising chassis for bioremediating acidic radioactive environments, yet how it protects intracellular proteins against acid stress remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the atypical small heat shock protein DrHsp17 to elucidate its physiological role and biophysical properties under acid stress. Our results show that DrHsp17 contributes to cell survival under severe acidic conditions, which induce liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of DrHsp17 to form dynamic condensate droplets both in vivo and in vitro. The phase-separation behavior of DrHsp17 depends on its polyanionic C-terminal intrinsically disordered region (IDR). Notably, LLPS is associated with enhanced chaperone activity of DrHsp17 and reduced intracellular protein aggregation. These findings indicate polyanionic IDR-driven phase separation of the DrHsp17 as a novel mechanism involved in bacterial acid stress-sensing and resistance, with the potential for engineering D. radiodurans cells for bioremediation under acid stress.
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BibTeX
@article{yu2026polyanionic,
title = {{Polyanionic C-Terminal IDR-Dependent Phase Separation of DrHsp17 Contributes to Acid Stress Protection in Deinococcus radiodurans}},
author = {Ning Yu and Shang Dai and Binqiang Wang and Chunhui Cai and Liangyan Wang and Yuejin Hua and Bing Tian},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27219801},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9801},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Polyanionic C-Terminal IDR-Dependent Phase Separation of DrHsp17 Contributes to Acid Stress Protection in Deinococcus radiodurans
AU - Ning Yu
AU - Shang Dai
AU - Binqiang Wang
AU - Chunhui Cai
AU - Liangyan Wang
AU - Yuejin Hua
AU - Bing Tian
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/31
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27219801
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9801
AB - The extremophilic bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is a promising chassis for bioremediating acidic radioactive environments, yet how it protects intracellular proteins against acid stress remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the atypical small heat shock protein DrHsp17 to elucidate its physiological role and biophysical properties under acid stress. Our results show that DrHsp17 contributes to cell survival under severe acidic conditions, which induce liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of DrHsp17 to form dynamic condensate droplets both in vivo and in vitro. The phase-separation behavior of DrHsp17 depends on its polyanionic C-terminal intrinsically disordered region (IDR). Notably, LLPS is associated with enhanced chaperone activity of DrHsp17 and reduced intracellular protein aggregation. These findings indicate polyanionic IDR-driven phase separation of the DrHsp17 as a novel mechanism involved in bacterial acid stress-sensing and resistance, with the potential for engineering D. radiodurans cells for bioremediation under acid stress.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -