Microfluidics-Based Drying-Wetting Cycles to Investigate Phase Transitions of Small Molecules Solutions.

Drying-wetting cycles play a crucial role in the investigation of the origin of life as processes that both concentrate and induce the supramolecular assembly and polymerization of biomolecular building blocks, such as nucleotides and amino acids. Here, we test different microfluidic devices to study the dehydration-hydration cycles of the aqueous solutions of small molecules, and to observe, by optical microscopy, the insurgence of phase transitions driven by self-assembly, exploiting water pervaporation through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). As a testbed, we investigate solutions of the chromonic dye Sunset Yellow (SSY), which self-assembles into face-to-face columnar aggregates and produces nematic and columnar liquid crystal (LC) phases as a function of concentration.

Protocol to synthesize the auxin analog 5-Ph-IAA for conditional protein depletion in C. elegans using the AID2 system.

The auxin-inducible degron (AID) system is a broadly used tool for spatiotemporal and reversible control of protein depletion in multiple experimental model systems. AID2 technology relies on a synthetic ligand, 5-phenyl-indole-3-acetic acid (5-Ph-IAA), for improved specificity and efficiency of protein degradation. Here, we provide a protocol for cost-effective 5-Ph-IAA synthesis utilizing the Suzuki coupling of 5-chloroindole and phenylboronic acid.