Fig. 2: Mechanism of the formation of multivalency-driven coacervates and the palindromic domain effect on the formation.

a Multivalency-driven coacervates by a long ssDNA (A₁₅₀₀) mixed with short binder ssDNA consisting of a complementary strand T₃₀, a spacer S₇ and a palindromic multivalency domain P_x. b Sequences and melting temperatures (T_m) of the palindromic domains at 10 mM Mg²⁺. c Size distribution of coacervates in systems containing 0.06 µM A₁₅₀₀ and 1.5 µM binder at 37 °C after a 4 h reaction period with various palindromic domains. Error bars correspond to standard deviations of ca. 150 coacervates. d CLSM images of systems containing 0.06 µM A₁₅₀₀ and 1.5 µM binder at 37 °C after a 4 h reaction period with different palindromic domains. e Time-dependent CLSM images of A₁₅₀₀/B_8-1. The fluorescent labels are on the B_x. The experiments were conducted at 37 °C with gentle rotation at 80 rpm. Scale bars: 10 μm.