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Stress granules offer first aid for leaky organelles

Assemblies of protein and RNA called stress granules appear in response to stressful conditions. The discovery that these granules can plug holes in punctured organelles sheds light on cellular defences against damage and infection.
  1. Stephen P. Plassmeyer

    1. Stephen P. Plassmeyer is in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and at the Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.

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  2. Alex S. Holehouse

    1. Alex S. Holehouse is in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and at the Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.

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To a cell, stress corresponds to a perturbation that can affect growth and survival. In eukaryotes (organisms that include plants, animals and fungi), a common process associated with the onset of cellular stress is the formation of cytoplasmic assemblies made up of various proteins and RNA molecules, called stress granules1. These granules appear in response to a wide variety of stresses. Although their role remains a topic of debate, they seem to coordinate cellular reorganization to simultaneously protect normal ‘housekeeping’ programs, as well as facilitate emergency-response pathways2,3. Writing in Nature, Bussi et al.4 report an additional and previously unappreciated role for stress granules in organelle repair: they can act as molecular plugs to patch up leaky lysosomes.

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Nature 623, 919-920 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03417-4

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Competing Interests

A.S.H. is a scientific consultant with Dewpoint Therapeutics and is on the Scientific Advisory Board for Prose Foods.

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