Osmotically Driven Nonmonotonic Dynamics of Nuclear-to-Cellular Volume Ratio

Abstract

A biophysical issue how the nuclear size dynamically scales with the cellular size remains mysterious. We develop a theoretical framework in which the interactions between polydisperse biomolecules and the mechanical elasticity of the cell are precisely integrated to investigate dynamics of the nuclear-to-cellular volume ratio (N/C ratio). We surprisingly find that the N/C ratio varies nonmonotonically with time, instead of maintaining a constant as normally known, during a period of osmotic shocks. Combining simulations and analytical argument, we identify that this nontrivial dynamics can be phenomenally predicted by the formed segregation configurations in the concentrations of the biomolecules, and essentially, all these observed phenomena can be further rationalized by the resultant of the excluded volume interactions between the polydisperse biomolecules and the spatial constraint from the nuclear envelope upon the macromolecule diffusions. Our results agree well with the published experiments for the cellular and nuclear size controls of the protoplasts.