Liquid crystal-like ordering drives the assembly of highly ordered centrosomal structures

Date

May 18, 2026

Time

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Speaker

Akira Mabuchi

Affiliation

The University of Tokyo

Language

en

Main Topic

Biologie

Host

Alexander von Appen

Description

Cells often face the challenge of rapidly assembling large intracellular structures at defined times and locations. Liquid–liquid phase separation has emerged as a key mechanism for such spatiotemporal organization by locally enriching specific molecules. However, certain cellular structures require more than local enrichment: their components must also adopt defined molecular orientations. How such orientational order emerges remains poorly understood. Here, we address this question by using the assembly of highly ordered centrosomal structures as a model system. We found that a core component of these structures not only forms liquid-like condensates, but also acquires liquid crystal-like orientational order within them. I will discuss how these two modes of self-organization may cooperate to drive the rapid assembly of ordered intracellular structures.

Last modified: May 15, 2026, 7:36:41 AM