Nuclear speckles comprise hierarchical nanoscale interaction networks that shape molecular dynamics

Biomolecular condensates organize essential cellular processes, but how their internal architecture regulates molecular behavior in living cells remains poorly understood. Here, we use MINFLUX nanoscopy for quantitative single-molecule imaging and live-cell tracking to resolve the organization and dynamics of specific macromolecules within nuclear speckles. Rather than behaving as uniform liquid-like compartments, nuclear speckles are hierarchically organized into dynamic nanoscale interaction networks. Proteins and RNAs assemble into molecular clusters that generate transient interaction nanodomains, where individual molecules alternate between diffusion and confinement while exploring higher-order networks. Physiological and genetic perturbations selectively remodel molecular clustering and nanodomain organization, and these changes are not consistently coupled to changes in the abundance of the measured components. Together, these findings reveal a multiscale organization of nuclear speckles in which molecular clustering, transient confinement, and dynamic exchange represent distinct but interconnected features of condensate architecture in living cells.

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Publication Details

Journal
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Published
2026-11-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.30.763187
Primary Topic
RNA Research and Splicing
Type
preprint
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preprint

Nuclear speckles comprise hierarchical nanoscale interaction networks that shape molecular dynamics

Jonas Zähringer, Steven H. DeVries, Tianyou Yao, Minxue Liu et al.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
RNA Research and Splicing
preprint

Nuclear speckles comprise hierarchical nanoscale interaction networks that shape molecular dynamics

Jonas Zähringer, Steven H. DeVries, Tianyou Yao, Minxue Liu, Ido Golding, Kannanganattu V. Prasanth, Qingcai Meng, Daiki Futagi, Taekjip Ha, Susan M. Freier, Astrid D Haase, Supriya G Prasantth, You Jin Song
preprint en

Abstract

Biomolecular condensates organize essential cellular processes, but how their internal architecture regulates molecular behavior in living cells remains poorly understood. Here, we use MINFLUX nanoscopy for quantitative single-molecule imaging and live-cell tracking to resolve the organization and dynamics of specific macromolecules within nuclear speckles. Rather than behaving as uniform liquid-like compartments, nuclear speckles are hierarchically organized into dynamic nanoscale interaction networks. Proteins and RNAs assemble into molecular clusters that generate transient interaction nanodomains, where individual molecules alternate between diffusion and confinement while exploring higher-order networks. Physiological and genetic perturbations selectively remodel molecular clustering and nanodomain organization, and these changes are not consistently coupled to changes in the abundance of the measured components. Together, these findings reveal a multiscale organization of nuclear speckles in which molecular clustering, transient confinement, and dynamic exchange represent distinct but interconnected features of condensate architecture in living cells.

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Northwestern University (US), Boston Children's Hospital (US), Harvard University (US), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), University of Illinois System (US), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (US)
RNA Research and Splicing
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