Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32015539›Full record

ReviewNature neuroscience2020

Phase separation at the synapse.

Xudong Chen, Xiandeng Wu, Haowei Wu, Mingjie Zhang

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
145citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
12.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

145 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 279 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Aberrant phase separation from a rare ABI3 mutation drives microglial dysfunction and Alzheimer's risk.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Phases align at the membrane.Nature chemical biology · 2026
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Liquid-liquid phase separation in neural development.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review

85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xudong ChenDivision of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Xiandeng WuDivision of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Haowei WuDivision of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Mingjie ZhangDivision of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China. mzhang@ust.hk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9404-0190
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Emerging evidence indicates that liquid-liquid phase separation, the formation of a condensed molecular assembly within another diluted aqueous solution, is a means for cells to organize highly condensed biological assemblies (also known as biological condensates or membraneless compartments) with very broad functions and regulatory properties in different subcellular regions. Molecular machineries dictating synaptic transmissions in both presynaptic boutons and postsynaptic densities of neuronal synapses may be such biological condensates. Here we review recent developments showing how phase separation can build dense synaptic molecular clusters, highlight unique features of such condensed clusters in the context of synaptic development and signaling, discuss how aberrant phase-separation-mediated synaptic assembly formation may contribute to dysfunctional signaling in psychiatric disorders, and present some challenges and opportunities of phase separation in synaptic biology.

Indexed as

AnimalsHumansPost-Synaptic DensityPresynaptic TerminalsSynapsesSynaptic Transmission

Identifiers

PMID32015539
OpenAlexW3004042481

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.