Transcription Regulators and Membraneless Organelles Challenges to Investigate Them

Eukaryotic cells are composed of different bio-macromolecules that are divided into compartments called organelles providing optimal microenvironments for many cellular processes. A specific type of organelles is membraneless organelles. They are formed via a process called liquid-liquid phase separation that is driven by weak multivalent interactions between particular bio-macromolecules. In this review, we gather crucial information regarding different classes of transcription regulators with the propensity to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation and stress the role of intrinsically disordered regions in this phenomenon. We also discuss recently developed experimental systems for studying formation and properties of membraneless organelles.

Automated summary

Eukaryotic cells are composed of different bio-macromolecules that are divided into compartments called organelles providing optimal microenvironments for many cellular processes. The specific type of organelles is membraneless organelles, formed via liquid-liquid phase separation driven by weak multivalent interactions between specific bio-macromolecules. Intrinsically disordered regions play a key role in this phenomenon.