Vacuole dynamics and popping-based motility in liquid droplets of DNA

Liquid droplets of biomolecules play key roles in organizing cellular behavior, and are also technologically relevant, yet physical studies of dynamic processes of such droplets have generally been lacking. Here, we investigate and quantify the dynamics of formation of dilute internal inclusions, i.e., vacuoles, within a model system consisting of liquid droplets of DNA 'nanostar' particles. When acted upon by DNA-cleaving restriction enzymes, these DNA droplets exhibit cycles of appearance, growth, and bursting of internal vacuoles. Analysis of vacuole growth shows their radius increases linearly in time. Further, vacuoles pop upon reaching the droplet interface, leading to droplet motion driven by the osmotic pressure of restriction fragments captured in the vacuole. We develop a model that accounts for the linear nature of vacuole growth, and the pressures associated with motility, by describing the dynamics of diffusing restriction fragments. The results illustrate the complex non-equilibrium dynamics possible in biomolecular condensates. In this work, the authors report the appearance of vacuoles within the droplets of an enzyme-driven biomolecular liquid. The mechanisms of these behaviors are quantitatively explained with a diffusive capture model of enzyme dynamics.

Automated summary

This study investigates the dynamics of dilute internal inclusions, called vacuoles, within liquid droplets of DNA nanostar particles. The researchers observe appearance, growth, and bursting of the vacuoles, and find that their growth follows a linear relationship with time. The vacuoles burst when they reach the droplet interface, causing droplet motion due to osmotic pressure. A diffusion-based model is developed to explain these behaviors quantitatively.