Controlling condensation by phosphorylation

Condensate formation as an organizing principle is rapidly gaining traction in many biological processes. However, the mechanisms by which the size, composition and subcellular localization of these condensates are regulated are largely unknown. Harald Hornegger, a PhD student in the Karagöz lab, has revealed that phosphorylation of the RNA-binding protein IGF2BP1 significantly impacts the biogenesis, size and number of stress granules. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows that post-translational modification of intrinsically disordered regions of IGF2BP1 alters its condensation properties, a mechanism which the authors propose allows cells to tune their transcriptional output in response to specific environmental conditions.