Functional membraneless organelles formed by de novo proteins*

Protein phase transitions in biology are associated with disease pathogenesis, for example in cataract disease or sickle cell anaemia, but they also occur as part of normal biological processes, such as liquid-liquid phase separation in cells. While protein phase behaviour has been understood from a physics perspective for globular proteins for some time, how we can apply what we already know to biomolecular condensation, or the phase transitions of other protein types is less clear. In my talk, I will describe the design of genetically encoded de novo polypeptides that form membraneless organelles in Escherichia coli and how the designed polypeptide can co-compartmentalize a functional enzyme pair, to create functional membraneless organelle with product formation close to the theoretical limit.