Directed stochasticity: Building biomolecular condensates in the right place

Mark S Geisler; James P Kemp Jr; Robert J Duronio

doi:10.1083/jcb.202412035

Directed stochasticity: Building biomolecular condensates in the right place

J Cell Biol. 2025 Jan 6;224(1):e202412035. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202412035. Epub 2024 Dec 24.

Authors

Mark S Geisler^#¹, James P Kemp Jr^#², Robert J Duronio^{1

2

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
² Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
³ Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁴ Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁵ Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 39718563
PMCID: PMC11668170 (available on 2025-12-24)
DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202412035

Abstract

Controlling biomolecular condensate formation within the nucleus is critical for genome function. In this issue, Xu et al. (https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202401036) report that KPNA3 promotes histone locus body formation and expression of replication-dependent histone genes by both importing NPAT into the nucleus and preventing NPAT condensation from improperly occurring in the cytoplasm.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomolecular Condensates* / metabolism
Cell Nucleus* / genetics
Cell Nucleus* / metabolism
Cytoplasm / metabolism
Histones / genetics
Histones / metabolism
Humans
alpha Karyopherins / genetics
alpha Karyopherins / metabolism

Substances

Histones
alpha Karyopherins