Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41540001›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

A high-throughput, flow cytometry approach to measure phase behavior and exchange in biomolecular condensates.

Yuchen He, George M Ongwae, Anupam Mondal, Joel A Moses, Jeetain Mittal, Marcos M Pires

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yuchen He *Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
George M Ongwae *Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Anupam MondalArtie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8436-5618
Joel A MosesDepartment of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1382-4792
Jeetain MittalArtie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9725-6402
Marcos M PiresDepartment of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA. mpires@virginia.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5676-0725

Funding

Unraveling Bacterial Cell Wall Biosynthesis and Sensing via Synthetic AnalogsR35GM124893 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI Marcos M. Pires · 2017 to 2026
$3.6M
Bacterial and Molecular Determinants of Mycobacterial ImpermeabilityR01AI179080 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI Marcos M. Pires, Mary Sloan Siegrist · 2023 to 2026
$2.9M
Multiscale Computational Models to Investigate the Role of Phase Separation in BiologyR35GM153388 · NIGMS · TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION · PI Jeetain Mittal · 2024 to 2026
$1.3M
Structural Determinants of Permeation Barriers in Escherichia coliR01AI178975 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI PIRES, MARCOS M. · 2023 to 2024
$1.2M
Leica tauSTED super resolution microscopy for molecular imaging in fixed and live specimensS10OD030409 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI PERIASAMY, AMMASI · 2022 to 2022
$850k
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI178975NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI179080NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM124893NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM153388NIH HHS S10 OD030409U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R35GM124893
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Biomolecular condensates are essential for cellular organization, yet their formation dynamics and molecular content exchange properties remain poorly understood. Here we show that flow cytometry provides a high-throughput, solution-based platform for analyzing condensate behavior at the single-droplet level. Using self-interacting NPM1 condensates as a model, we demonstrate that this approach quantifies phase behavior across protein and salt conditions, measures the partitioning of diverse macromolecules-including antibodies, lipids, small-molecule drugs, and RNA-and detects molecular colocalization with high statistical precision. Importantly, we establish a high-throughput assay to track real-time molecular exchange between preformed condensates and newly added, orthogonally tagged protein. These measurements reveal that condensate aging significantly reduces molecular dynamisms, likely due to altered biophysical properties with time. Compared to conventional imaging techniques that require surface immobilization or complex instrumentation, our method enables rapid, quantitative characterization of condensate dynamics and molecular content, providing a scalable framework for probing condensate function.

Indexed as

Biomolecular CondensatesFlow CytometryHigh-Throughput Screening AssaysNuclear ProteinsHumansNucleophosminPhase SeparationNPM1 protein, humanNuclear ProteinsNucleophosmin

Identifiers

PMID41540001
PMCPMC12873376

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.