Stress granules articles from across Nature Portfolio

Cells must respond to environmental changes. In three fungal species adapted to different temperatures, cellular responses are conserved yet tuned to each organism’s thermal niche, including the formation of adaptive biomolecular condensates.

The cell interior is organized by diverse membrane-less condensates. Here, the authors reveal that the densities of certain condensates are surprisingly low, similar to the surrounding protoplasm and driven by cellular RNA as well as the crowded milieu.

Membraneless organelles (MLOs) contribute to intracellular compartmentalization and to various cellular processes. This Review provides a guide to MLOs involved in gene regulation in eukaryotes, discussing their assembly, structure, roles in transcription, RNA processing and translation — particularly in stress conditions — and their disease relevance.

Stress granules are non-membranous organelles connected to stress responses and age-related disease. Here, the authors identify a conserved yeast protein, Lsm7, that facilitates stress granule formation through dynamic liquid-liquid phase separation condensates upon 2-deoxy-D-glucose-induced stress.

Cereghetti et al. report that the glycolytic metabolite fructose-1,6-bisphosphate initiates the disassembly of amyloids formed by the yeast pyruvate kinase Cdc19 to resume ATP production during stress recovery.

Recent studies have highlighted the contribution of RNA to cellular liquid–liquid phase separation and condensate formation. RNA features modulate the composition and biophysical properties of RNA–protein condensates, which have various cellular functions, including RNA transport and localization, supporting catalytic processes and responding to stress.

During cellular stresses, the mRNA internal 7-methylguanosine (m⁷G) modification is bound by QKI-7, which regulates the stability and/or translation of the mRNAs by sequestering them in stress granules.

The RNA-binding proteins RBGD2 and RBGD4 improve resistance to heat stress in plants by phase separating into heat-induced stress granules.

Cells respond to stimuli by reorganizing their contents into subcellular structures. New research demonstrates that yeast pyruvate kinase Cdc19 interacts with fructose-1,6-bisphosphate to coordinate disassembly of stress granules. These findings reveal how proteins can directly sense the cellular energy state to facilitate adaptive reorganization.

mRNA translation is found to occur in cytosolic stress granules, membraneless organelles that form via liquid−liquid phase separation when cells are exposed to cell-intrinsic or environmental stress.

Stressed eukaryotic cells store mRNAs in protein-rich condensates called stress granules. Using single-molecule tracking techniques to examine how mRNAs enter stress granules, a new study shows that mRNAs make transient contacts with the granule surface before stable association, and become largely immobile after entry.