Fig. 1: Active coacervate-based compartments by the dynamic phosphorylation of peptides at the expense of a simple phosphorylating agent.
From: Active droplets through enzyme-free, dynamic phosphorylation
A schematic representation of the chemical reaction cycle coupled to the formation of complex coacervate-based droplets. The chemical reaction cycle converts a deactivated, histidine-containing precursor peptide (blue) to an activated, phosphohistidine-containing product (red) at the expense of the chemical fuel monoamidophosphate (MAP). The precursor acts as a catalyst for the hydrolysis of MAP. The activated product can interact with poly-arginine (purple) to form liquid-liquid phase-separated complex coacervate droplets. The droplets dissolve upon deactivation (dephosphorylation) of the product and the precursor can be recycled.
