Subcellular restriction of gene expression is crucial to the functioning of a wide variety of cell types. The cellular machinery driving spatially restricted gene expression has been studied for many years, but recent advances have highlighted novel mechanisms by which cells can generate subcellular microenvironments with specialized gene expression profiles. Particularly intriguing are recent findings that phase separation plays a role in certain RNA localization pathways. The burgeoning field of phase separation has revolutionized how we view cellular compartmentalization, revealing that, in addition to membrane-bound organelles, phase-separated cytoplasmic microenvironments — termed biomolecular condensates — are compositionally and functionally distinct from the surrounding cytoplasm, without the need for a lipid membrane. The coupling of phase separation and RNA localization allows for precise subcellular targeting, robust translational repression and dynamic recruitment of accessory proteins. Despite the growing interest in the intersection between RNA localization and phase separation, it remains to be seen how exactly components of the localization machinery, particularly motor proteins, are able to associate with these biomolecular condensates. Further studies of the formation, function, and transport of biomolecular condensates promise to provide a new mechanistic understanding of how cells restrict gene expression at a subcellular level.
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December 2021
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Fuelled by the ‘resolution revolution’, cryo-EM has transformed our molecular understanding of transcriptional regulation in bacteria. As an example, Wood and colleagues (pp. 2695–2710) present the sialic acid gene repressor NanR (PDB-6WFG), where cryo-EM revealed the DNA-binding mode. “E. coli Bacteria” by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Cover artwork courtesy of Christopher Horne.
Review Article|
November 25 2021
Regulation of spatially restricted gene expression: linking RNA localization and phase separation
Liam C. O'Connell;
Liam C. O'Connell
Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry, Brown University Providence, Providence, RI 02912, U.S.A.
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Kimberly L. Mowry
Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry, Brown University Providence, Providence, RI 02912, U.S.A.
Correspondence: Kimberly L. Mowry (Kimberly_Mowry@brown.edu)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 16 2021
Revision Received:
November 08 2021
Accepted:
November 09 2021
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2021
Biochem Soc Trans (2021) 49 (6): 2591–2600.
Article history
Received:
August 16 2021
Revision Received:
November 08 2021
Accepted:
November 09 2021
Citation
Liam C. O'Connell, Kimberly L. Mowry; Regulation of spatially restricted gene expression: linking RNA localization and phase separation. Biochem Soc Trans 17 December 2021; 49 (6): 2591–2600. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20210320
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