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Protein condensates provide a platform for controlling chromatin

The protein UTX regulates the DNA–protein complex chromatin to suppress tumour growth. Data suggest that the ability of UTX to condense into liquid-like droplets underlies its chromatin-regulating ability.
  1. David Lara-Astiaso

    1. David Lara-Astiaso is in the Department of Haematology and the Wellcome Trust–MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK.

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  2. Brian J. P. Huntly

    1. Brian J. P. Huntly are in the Department of Haematology and the Wellcome Trust–MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK, and at Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge, UK.

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In a process called liquid–liquid phase separation, proteins and nucleic acids self-organize into liquid-like droplets called condensates1. These dynamic, membraneless compartments enable molecules to co-localize at the optimal concentrations needed for different reactions, excluding undesired molecules, and thereby controlling complex biochemical processes in space and time2. A growing number of proteins have been described that contain intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) and can therefore form condensates, and an increasing number of processes have been reported to be controlled by liquid–liquid phase separation. Writing in Nature, Shi et al.3 add UTX to this list of proteins, and tumour suppression to the processes controlled by liquid–liquid phase separation.

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Nature 597, 642-644 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02365-1

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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