Issue 1, 2023

Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates

Abstract

Membraneless organelles formed through condensation of biomolecules in living cells have become the focus of sustained efforts to elucidate their mechanisms of formation and function. These condensates perform a range of vital functions in cells and are closely connected to key processes in functional and aberrant biology. Since these systems occupy a size scale intermediate between single proteins and conventional protein complexes on the one hand, and cellular length scales on the other hand, they have proved challenging to probe using conventional approaches from either protein science or cell biology. Additionally, condensate can form, solidify and perform functions on various time-scales. From a physical point of view, biomolecular condensates are colloidal soft matter systems, and microfluidic approaches, which originated in soft condensed matter research, have successfully been used to study biomolecular condensates. This review explores how microfluidics have aided condensate research into the thermodynamics, kinetics and other properties of condensates, by offering high-throughput and novel experimental setups.

Graphical abstract: Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
07 iyl 2022
Accepted
04 sen 2022
First published
21 sen 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Lab Chip, 2023,23, 9-24

Microfluidics for multiscale studies of biomolecular condensates

N. A. Erkamp, R. Qi, T. J. Welsh and T. P. J. Knowles, Lab Chip, 2023, 23, 9 DOI: 10.1039/D2LC00622G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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