Cancer is a disease of uncontrollably reproducing cells. It is governed by biochemical pathways that have escaped the regulatory bounds of normal homeostatic balance. This balance is maintained through precise spatiotemporal regulation of these pathways. The formation of biomolecular condensates via liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) has recently emerged as a widespread mechanism underlying the spatiotemporal coordination of biological activities in cells. Biomolecular condensates are widely observed to directly regulate key cellular processes involved in cancer cell pathology, and the dysregulation of LLPS is increasingly implicated as a previously hidden driver of oncogenic activity. In this Perspective, we discuss how LLPS shapes the biochemical landscape of cancer cells.

癌症是一种不受控制地繁殖细胞的疾病。它受生化途径的控制，这些途径已经逃脱了正常稳态平衡的监管范围。这种平衡是通过对这些通路进行精确的时空调节来维持的。通过液-液相分离 (LLPS) 形成生物分子凝聚物最近已成为细胞中生物活动时空协调的广泛机制。生物分子凝聚物被广泛观察到直接调节癌细胞病理学中涉及的关键细胞过程，并且 LLPS 的失调越来越多地被认为是以前隐藏的致癌活动的驱动因素。在此观点中，我们讨论了 LLPS 如何塑造癌细胞的生化景观。