Biomolecular condensates: organizers of cellular biochemistry
TLDR
This work has shown that liquid–liquid phase separation driven by multivalent macromolecular interactions is an important organizing principle for biomolecular condensates and has proposed a physical framework for this organizing principle.Abstract:
In addition to membrane-bound organelles, eukaryotic cells feature various membraneless compartments, including the centrosome, the nucleolus and various granules. Many of these compartments form through liquid–liquid phase separation, and the principles, mechanisms and regulation of their assembly as well as their cellular functions are now beginning to emerge. Biomolecular condensates are micron-scale compartments in eukaryotic cells that lack surrounding membranes but function to concentrate proteins and nucleic acids. These condensates are involved in diverse processes, including RNA metabolism, ribosome biogenesis, the DNA damage response and signal transduction. Recent studies have shown that liquid–liquid phase separation driven by multivalent macromolecular interactions is an important organizing principle for biomolecular condensates. With this physical framework, it is now possible to explain how the assembly, composition, physical properties and biochemical and cellular functions of these important structures are regulated.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Liquid phase condensation in cell physiology and disease.
TL;DR: The findings together suggest that several membrane-less organelles have been shown to exhibit a concentration threshold for assembly, a hallmark of phase separation, and represent liquid-phase condensates, which form via a biologically regulated (liquid-liquid) phase separation process.
Journal ArticleDOI
Gene regulation by long non-coding RNAs and its biological functions.
TL;DR: A review of the mechanisms of lncRNA biogenesis, localization and functions in transcriptional, post-transcriptional and other modes of gene regulation, and their potential therapeutic applications is presented in this article.
Journal ArticleDOI
Coactivator condensation at super-enhancers links phase separation and gene control
Benjamin R. Sabari,Alessandra Dall’Agnese,Ann Boija,Isaac A. Klein,Isaac A. Klein,Eliot L. Coffey,Krishna Shrinivas,Brian J. Abraham,Nancy M. Hannett,Alicia V. Zamudio,John C. Manteiga,Charles H. Li,Yang Eric Guo,Daniel S. Day,Jurian Schuijers,Eliza Vasile,Sohail Malik,Denes Hnisz,Tong Ihn Lee,Ibrahim I Cisse,Robert G. Roeder,Phillip A. Sharp,Arup K. Chakraborty,Richard A. Young +23 more
TL;DR: It is postulated that super-enhancers are phase-separated multimolecular assemblies, also known as biomolecular condensates, which provide a means to compartmentalize and concentrate biochemical reactions within cells.
Journal ArticleDOI
Considerations and Challenges in Studying Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation and Biomolecular Condensates.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose guidelines for rigorous experimental characterization of liquid-liquid phase separation processes in vitro and in cells, discuss the caveats of common experimental approaches, and point out experimental and theoretical gaps in the field.
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Regulation of microRNA function in animals
Gebert Lfr,Ian J. MacRae +1 more
TL;DR: The mechanisms that modulate miRNA activity, stability and cellular localization through alternative processing and maturation, sequence editing, post-translational modifications of Argonaute proteins, subcellular localization and regulation of miRNA–target interactions are reviewed.
References
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Liquid phase condensation in cell physiology and disease.
A Liquid-to-Solid Phase Transition of the ALS Protein FUS Accelerated by Disease Mutation
Avinash Patel,Hyun O. Lee,Louise Jawerth,Shovamayee Maharana,Marcus Jahnel,Marco Y. Hein,Stoyno S. Stoynov,Julia Mahamid,Shambaditya Saha,Titus M. Franzmann,Andrej Pozniakovski,Ina Poser,Nicola Maghelli,Loic Royer,Martin Weigert,Eugene W. Myers,Stephan W. Grill,David N. Drechsel,Anthony A. Hyman,Simon Alberti +19 more