Protein Phase Separation: A New Phase in Cell Biology

Overview

Journal Trends Cell Biol

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2018 Apr 1

PMID 29602697

Citations 846

Authors

Steven Boeynaems

Simon Alberti

Nicolas L Fawzi

Tanja Mittag

Magdalini Polymenidou

Frederic Rousseau

Joost Schymkowitz

James Shorter

Benjamin Wolozin

Ludo Van Den Bosch

Peter Tompa

Monika Fuxreiter

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cellular compartments and organelles organize biological matter. Most well-known organelles are separated by a membrane boundary from their surrounding milieu. There are also many so-called membraneless organelles and recent studies suggest that these organelles, which are supramolecular assemblies of proteins and RNA molecules, form via protein phase separation. Recent discoveries have shed light on the molecular properties, formation, regulation, and function of membraneless organelles. A combination of techniques from cell biology, biophysics, physical chemistry, structural biology, and bioinformatics are starting to help establish the molecular principles of an emerging field, thus paving the way for exciting discoveries, including novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of age-related disorders.

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