{
  "abstract": "Biomolecular condensates possess distinct solvent environments. This has been postulated to affect biochemical activities. Here, we report the discovery of inherent catalytic functions of condensates formed by intrinsically disordered proteins. The proteins themselves lack any catalytic activities. The catalytic functions of condensates emerge as a consequence of phase separation-dependent mesoscale electrochemical microenvironments. Condensates can mediate the hydrolysis of diverse types of biologically relevant substrates. Through sequence design that enriches selective residues at condensate interfaces, interfacial electrochemical properties, such as interfacial electric field and water activity, are shown to control catalytic behaviors. Synthetic condensates in live cells exhibit hydrolytic activity, reshaping transcription profiles and activating gene circuits that depend on hydrolytic products. Together, these findings support a model that biomolecular condensates function as \"condenzymes,\" contributing emergent biochemical functions in cells.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, James F. McKelvey School of Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA",
    "Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA",
    "Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA",
    "Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA",
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, James F. McKelvey School of Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. Electronic address: pappu@wustl.edu",
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, James F. McKelvey School of Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. Electronic address: dyifan@wustl.edu"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 17,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Michael W. Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xiao Guo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mina Farag",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6457-6848"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Naixin Qian",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6433-063X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Xiaowei Song",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3611-2816"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Anton Z. Ni",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0122-9168"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Vicky Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yu Xia",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7647-4921"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yuefeng Ma",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1546-5172"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Leshan Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wen Yu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4613-4525"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Matthew R. King",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8533-3589"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Joonho Lee",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9667-1081"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Richard N. Zare",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5266-4253"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Wei Min"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Rohit V. Pappu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2568-1378"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Yifan Dai",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1009-5790"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/72sy4jyz4rhma.bib",
  "cited_by": 39,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.molcel.2026.07.008",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "72sy4jyz4rhma",
  "issns": [
    "1097-2765",
    "1097-4164"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2026.07.008",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|RNA Research and Splicing"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7170601666",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC11257451",
  "pmid": "39026887",
  "published": "2026-07-24",
  "publisher": "Elsevier BV",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/72sy4jyz4rhma.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-05T13:20:46Z",
      "native_id": "W7170601666",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2026.07.008"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|RNA Research and Splicing",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Biomolecular condensates can function as inherent catalysts",
  "title_text": "Biomolecular condensates can function as inherent catalysts",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T13:20:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/72sy4jyz4rhma",
  "venue": "Molecular Cell",
  "versions": []
}