Biomolecular phase separation and phase transition is a rapidly developing frontier research domain. Research has revealed the existence of membraneless organelles (MLOs) at the micrometer scale within cells. Unlike classical organelles such as endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi apparatus, which have lipid bilayer membranes, these MLOs are constructed through biomolecular phase separation and phase transition. They are formed by the assembly of multivalent biomacromolecules through weak interactions and are able to regulate the dynamic nature of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) through reversible assembly. As a result, they can precisely control the specificity of biochemical reactions within cells in both spatial and temporal dimensions.

The homeostatic imbalance of LLPS in biological systems is closely related to various diseases. Chinese researchers have achieved many important scientific achievements in this field.

This session will bring together scientists to discuss such topics as MLOs and chromatin and gene expression regulation, MLOs and disease occurrence and development, MLOs and material transportation, interactions between MLOs and membrane-bound organelles, MLOs and drug screening and MLOs and signal transduction, as well as new technologies and methods of MLO research. 

Chairs 

Lin Yi

Professor, Tsinghua University 

Ruan Ke 

Professor, University of Science and Technology of China 

Invited speakers & reports

Bi Guoqiang

Professor, University of Science and Technology of China & Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Report: Mesophasic molecular organization in neuronal synapses 

Song Yan

Associate professor with tenure, Peking University

Report: Mitotic retention of transcription factor condensates in mouse brain development 

Ouyang Min

Professor, Huazhong Agricultural University

Report: Phase transition drives chloroplast cargo import and folding

Wen Wenyu

Research fellow, Fudan University

Report: Feedback regulation of ubiquitination and phase separation of HECT E3 ligases 

Huang Kai

Shenzhen Bay Laboratory

Report: Phase separation as higher-order catalyst 

Song Yangzhou

Professor, Sun Yat-sen University

Report: Proximity proteomics of nuclear bodies 

Jiang Hao     

University of Virginia, USA

Report: Dysregulation of epigenetic condensates in disease