Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation as an Emerging Regulator of Pathways Relevant to MASLD
- 1Guangxi Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding, Disease Control and Prevention, College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Abstract
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most prevalent chronic liver disease worldwide, and a substantial proportion of patients progress to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a more severe form characterized by hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, which contributes to increased morbidity and mortality. However, the precise pathogenic mechanisms underlying MASLD remain incompletely understood. Liquid–Liquid phase separation (LLPS) mediates the assembly of membrane-less biomolecular condensates, which dynamically regulate various cellular signaling pathways. Emerging evidence links LLPS to chronic liver diseases, including MASLD and MASH. This review focuses on the regulatory roles of LLPS in key pathophysiological processes associated with MASLD and MASH, including insulin resistance, lipid metabolism, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, ferroptosis, autophagy, and fibrosis, with the aim of improving our understanding of LLPS in MASLD and providing new insights for therapeutic development.
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BibTeX
@article{shan2026liquidliquid,
title = {{Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation as an Emerging Regulator of Pathways Relevant to MASLD}},
author = {Yikang Shan and Tianhao Zhang and Jiakang He and Yucheng He},
journal = {Biomolecules},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/biom16111548},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/11/1548},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation as an Emerging Regulator of Pathways Relevant to MASLD
AU - Yikang Shan
AU - Tianhao Zhang
AU - Jiakang He
AU - Yucheng He
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Biomolecules
DO - 10.3390/biom16111548
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/11/1548
AB - Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most prevalent chronic liver disease worldwide, and a substantial proportion of patients progress to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a more severe form characterized by hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, which contributes to increased morbidity and mortality. However, the precise pathogenic mechanisms underlying MASLD remain incompletely understood. Liquid–Liquid phase separation (LLPS) mediates the assembly of membrane-less biomolecular condensates, which dynamically regulate various cellular signaling pathways. Emerging evidence links LLPS to chronic liver diseases, including MASLD and MASH. This review focuses on the regulatory roles of LLPS in key pathophysiological processes associated with MASLD and MASH, including insulin resistance, lipid metabolism, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, ferroptosis, autophagy, and fibrosis, with the aim of improving our understanding of LLPS in MASLD and providing new insights for therapeutic development.
SN - 2218-273X
ER -