Intracellular organelles that lack a membrane boundary are often formed through liquid-liquid phase separation. The biophysical properties of such structures are linked to their physiological functions and involvement in diseases. Most of these organelles contain RNA molecules that associate with RNA binding proteins (RBPs) to control intracellular phase separation (1). Specific long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are especially important in the architecture of membraneless organelles (2). On page 547 of this issue, Wu et al. (3) provide a mechanistic understanding of how lncRNAs modulate the biophysical properties of phase-separated nucleolar subdomains of the nucleus, where ribosome biogenesis takes place.

缺乏膜边界的细胞内细胞器通常通过液-液相分离形成。这种结构的生物物理特性与其生理功能和疾病相关。这些细胞器中的大多数包含与 RNA 结合蛋白 (RBP) 相关联的 RNA 分子，以控制细胞内相分离 ( 1 )。特定的长链非编码 RNA (lncRNA) 在无膜细胞器的结构中尤为重要 ( 2 )。在本期第 547 页，Wu等人。( 3 ) 提供了对 lncRNA 如何调节核的相分离核仁亚域的生物物理特性的机制理解，核糖体生物发生发生在该亚域。