Phase Separation in Asymmetric Cell Division.

Wenyu Wen1

  • 1Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences , Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University , Shanghai 200032 , China.

Biochemistry
|October 17, 2019
PubMed
Summary

This paper explores how a physical process called biomolecular phase separation might influence asymmetric cell division. The author reviews recent studies suggesting that phase separation could help cells divide asymmetrically by concentrating cell fate determinants in one daughter cell. The paper explains that proteins and RNAs can form dense structures through multivalent interactions, which may regulate the organization of organelles during division. The author proposes that phase separation could be a conserved mechanism for controlling cell fate outcomes. This perspective offers a new way to understand how cells achieve diversity through division.

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