Biomolecular Condensates: Organizers of Life
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/enbio.v16i186.17161Keywords:
Biomolecular condensates, liquid-liquid phase separation, self-organization, structural biology, human healthAbstract
Life never fails to surprise us. Today, it does so with membrane-less organelles known as biomolecular condensates. These structures arise from a phenomenon of biomolecular self-organization capable of generating localized microenvironments with defined functions within the cell. In recent years, the significance of condensates in various aspects of cellular biology has been unveiled, including the regulation of gene expression, protein synthesis, cellular signaling control, cytoskeletal protein polymerization, and the formation of aggregates associated with neurodegenerative diseases, among many others yet to be discovered. These findings are revolutionizing our current understanding of cellular processes and providing new insights into cell process regulation. Condensates unveil previously unknown cellular mechanisms, more stochastic, that are shifting away from the dominance of genetic mechanisms in favor of cellular self-organization processes. The advancement in comprehending biomolecular condensates paves the way for exciting avenues of research in cellular and molecular biology, enabling the reinterpretation of processes that relate the genotype to the phenotype. Offering, in this way, the potential to better understand diseases and develop more effective therapeutic approaches in the future.
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