‘Ageing’ cellular blobs could be linked to neurodegenerative diseases

Biomolecular condensates are fluid blobs that form inside cells and perform all kinds of vital functions. Now researchers have identified a new way for them to exert their influence: through changes in the electrochemical gradients at their interfaces.

Yifan Dai of Washington University in St Louis and his co-workers have found that condensates don’t stay the same while they persist, but ‘age’ in a way that alters their electrochemical properties.¹ The researchers believe this might supply a means for cells to control condensate properties and functions, and that the findings could have implications for therapeutic interventions in condensate-related diseases.