Biological Phase Transitions: Where Chemistry and Physics Meet Biology

Cells contain membrane-delimited organelles that compartmentalize cellular constituents and regulate biochemistry. A growing body of fascinating research now reveals that there is also an alternative mechanism of spatiotemporally-controlled intracellular compartmentalization and organization via liquid-liquid phase separation of proteins and nucleic acids into non-canonical membrane-less organelles. These functional liquid-like biomolecular condensates can undergo aberrant irreversible phase transitions into gel-like or solid-like amyloid aggregates associated with a range of debilitating human diseases. I will describe our multidisciplinary approach involving cell and molecular biology, vibrational Raman spectroscopy, single-molecule biophysics, and super-resolution imaging to decipher the fundamental molecular drivers of biological phase transitions involved in physiology and disease.