Liquid-like material state and phase-separation origin of cellular condensates

Determine whether cellular structures referred to as biomolecular condensates possess liquid-like material properties and whether their formation arises from liquid–liquid phase separation rather than alternative mechanisms.

Background

The authors note that some literature equates condensates with liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS), but emphasize that in many cases it is not established whether the structures are liquid-like or whether they formed via phase separation. Solid-like features have been observed for certain assemblies, complicating classification.

Clarifying the material state and formation pathway is essential for connecting observed behaviors to underlying physical mechanisms and for avoiding semantic ambiguity in defining condensates.

References

Some papers equate condensates with liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), but it is often neither clear whether the involved objects have liquid-like properties (and solid-like properties have been observed ), nor whether they actually form by phase separation.

— Roadmap for Condensates in Cell Biology  (2601.03677 - Aierken et al., 7 Jan 2026) in Section 2: What are condensates?