Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation Protects Amyloidogenic and Aggregation-Prone Peptides in Heterologous Expression Systems

Studying pathogenic effects of amyloids requires homogeneous amyloidogenic peptide samples. Recombinant production of these peptides is challenging due to their susceptibility to aggregation and chemical modifications. Thus, chemical synthesis is primarily used to produce amyloidogenic peptides suitable for high resolution structural studies. Here, we exploited the shielded environment of protein condensates formed via liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) as a protective mechanism against premature aggregation. We designed a fusion protein tag undergoing LLPS in E. coli and linked it to highly amyloidogenic peptides, including A{beta} amyloid. We find that the fusion proteins form membraneless organelles during overexpression and remain soluble. We also developed a facile purification method of functional A{beta} peptides free of chromatography steps. The strategy exploiting LLPS can be applied to other amyloidogenic, hydrophobic, and repetitive peptides that are otherwise difficult to produce.