Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Keywords
Intrinsically Disordered Protein, Intrinsically Disordered Protein Region, Liquid-liquid Phase Transition, Protein-protein Interaction, Protein-nucleic Acid Interaction, Posttranslational Modifications
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11060990
Abstract
The visible outcome of liquid-liquid phase transitions (LLPTs) in cells is the formation and disintegration of various proteinaceous membrane-less organelles (PMLOs). Although LLPTs and related PMLOs have been observed in living cells for over 200 years, the physiological functions of these transitions (also known as liquid-liquid phase separation, LLPS) are just starting to be understood. While unveiling the functionality of these transitions is important, they have come into light more recently due to the association of abnormal LLPTs with various pathological conditions. In fact, several maladies, such as various cancers, different neurodegenerative diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, are known to be associated with either aberrant LLPTs or some pathological transformations within the resultant PMLOs. Here, we will highlight both the physiological functions of cellular liquid-liquid phase transitions as well as the pathological consequences produced through both dysregulated biogenesis of PMLOs and the loss of their dynamics. We will also discuss the potential downstream toxic effects of proteins that are involved in pathological formations.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Polymers, v. 11, issue 6, art. 990
Scholar Commons Citation
Darling, April L.; Zaslavsky, Boris; and Uversky, Vladimir N., "Intrinsic Disorder-based Emergence in Cellular Biology: Physiological and Pathological Liquid-liquid Phase Transitions in Cells" (2019). Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications. 820.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/mme_facpub/820
