Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026
09:58
Robotic Production of Cancer Cell Spheroids with an Aqueous Two-phase System for Drug Testing
Published on: April 23, 2015
9.4K
Spatiotemporal Control of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation for Advanced Biomanufacturing
Yingying Li1,2, Can Zeng1,2, Xiaoye Lyu1,3
1State Key Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
ACS Synthetic Biology
|October 30, 2025
Summary
Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) offers new biomanufacturing tools by creating responsive compartments. This review explores controlling LLPS for enhanced efficiency, programmed reactions, and biosensing in bioprocesses.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing
Background:
- Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is crucial for organizing biomolecules within cells.
- Dysregulation of LLPS is linked to neurodegenerative diseases.
- LLPS is emerging as a powerful tool in biomanufacturing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the spatiotemporal control of LLPS for biomanufacturing applications.
- To highlight advances in using LLPS for metabolic engineering and creating responsive compartments.
- To discuss challenges and future directions for LLPS in synthetic biology.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of recent advances in LLPS for biomanufacturing.
- Analysis of LLPS applications in enhancing catalytic efficiency.
- Examination of LLPS for programmed bioreactions, toxic component sequestration, and biosensing.
Main Results:
- LLPS enables the creation of dynamic, responsive compartments for bioprocesses.
- Spatiotemporal control of LLPS can enhance enzyme activity and metabolic pathways.
- LLPS facilitates the development of biosensors and the management of cellular environments.
Conclusions:
- LLPS holds significant promise for advancing biomanufacturing and metabolic engineering.
- Rational design of LLPS-based systems is key to overcoming current challenges.
- Future research should focus on developing programmable and robust synthetic systems utilizing LLPS.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Overview Of Cell Separation And Isolation
5.9K
Cell separation was first achieved in 1964 by S. H. Seal, who separated large tumor cells from the smaller blood cells using filtration. Two years later, Pohl and Hawk performed experiments on how cells respond differently to a nonuniform electric field based on the cell type. Such observations were the inception of cell separation methods, which allow isolating a single cell type from a heterogeneous sample.
5.9K
01:11High-Performance Liquid Chromatography: Introduction
3.0K
High-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC), formerly referred to as High-pressure liquid chromatography, is a powerful technique used to separate, identify, and quantify components in complex mixtures. The term "high pressure" refers to using high pressure to push the liquid mobile phase through the tightly packed columns.
In HPLC, two phases play a critical role in the separation process:
In HPLC, two phases play a critical role in the separation process:
3.0K
01:18Supercritical Fluid Chromatography
1.5K
Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) provides a beneficial substitute for gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC) for certain samples because it merges the top attributes of both techniques. SFC allows the separation and analysis of compounds that GC or LC does not easily manage. These compounds are traditionally nonvolatile or thermally unstable, making GC unsuitable and lacking functional groups required for HPLC analysis.
SFC utilizes a supercritical fluid mobile phase,...
SFC utilizes a supercritical fluid mobile phase,...
1.5K
01:18Bioreactor Controls-II
76
In aerobic fermentations, oxygen is vital for microbial growth and metabolite production. Since air comprises only about 20% oxygen and the gas is poorly soluble in water—just 9 ppm at 20°C—supplying sufficient oxygen becomes a critical challenge, especially in high-demand processes like yeast growth or citric acid production. Even a fully saturated broth may offer only a few seconds of oxygen availability.To address this, sterile or scrubbed air is introduced into the...
76
01:27Upstream Processing
97
Upstream processing represents a critical phase in biomanufacturing, wherein biological systems such as microorganisms, mammalian cells, or insect cells are cultivated to produce therapeutic proteins, vaccines, enzymes, or other biologically derived products. This phase encompasses all steps from the selection and genetic manipulation of the production organism to the cultivation of cells in bioreactors under tightly controlled environmental conditions.Host Selection and Genetic OptimizationThe...
97