Potential roles of G-quadruplex structures in RNA granules for physiological and pathological phase separation

Abstract Cellular liquid–liquid phase separation is a physiologically inevitable phenomenon in molecularly crowded environments inside cells and serves to compartmentalize biomolecules facilitate several functions, forming cytoplasmic nuclear RNA granules. Abnormalities the process granules are implicated onset of neurodegenerative diseases; initial liquid-like phase-separated droplets containing pathogenic proteins prone aberrantly mature into solid-like droplets. RNAs involved maturation physiological pathological essential for governing fate phase-transition processes. Notably, G-quadruplex (G4RNA), which secondary structure nucleic acids that formed guanine-rich sequences, appears be an advantageous scaffold RNA-derived because its multivalent interactions with RNA-binding proteins. Here, we summarize properties discuss potential roles G4RNA