Fluorescent protein tags affect the condensation properties of a phase-separating viral protein

Abstract

Fluorescent protein (FP) tags are extensively used to visualize and characterize the properties of biomolecular condensates despite a lack of investigation into the effects of these tags on phase separation. Here, we characterized the dynamic properties of µNS, a viral protein hypothesized to undergo phase separation and the main component of mammalian orthoreovirus viral factories. Our interest in the sequence determinants and nucleation process of µNS phase separation led us to compare the size and density of condensates formed by FP::µNS to the untagged protein. We found an FP-dependent increase in droplet size and density, which suggests that FP tags can promote µNS condensation. To further assess the effect of FP tags on µNS droplet formation, we fused FP tags to µNS mutants to show that the tags could variably induce phase separation of otherwise noncondensing proteins. By comparing fluorescent constructs with untagged µNS, we identified mNeonGreen as the least artifactual FP tag that minimally perturbed µNS condensation. These results show that FP tags can promote phase separation and that some tags are more suitable for visualizing and characterizing biomolecular condensates with minimal experimental artifacts.