REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1604015
Liquid-liquid phase separation: an emerging perspective on the tumorigenesis, progression, and treatment of tumors
Provisionally accepted
- 1TCM Regulating Metabolic Diseases Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2College of Basic Medicine, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 3Department of Endocrinology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Research in the field of Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) breaks through the classical theory of gene mutation in the mechanism of tumorigenesis and provides a new perspective for comprehending tumors from a network regulation standpoint. Although there have been some reviews discussing the relationship between LLPS and tumors, they often focus on elaborating isolated mechanisms. In the face of complex and diverse disease characteristics, it is necessary to summarize the correlation between LLPS and tumors through a linked and holistic approach to reveal the deep-rooted relationships among tumor disease mechanisms. Therefore, we adopt a dual-dimensional analytical framework, where one dimension (the longitude) integrates cellular physiology, tumorigenesis, progression, and therapeutic responses, while the other dimension (the latitude) focuses on the pathogenic characteristics of tumors. This structural design enables comprehensive analysis of LLPS functions across both dynamic processes and pathological features. This article first outlines how LLPS regulates normal cellular physiological activities, such as gene expression, DNA damage response ( DDR ) , and epigenetic modifications. It then summarizes how LLPS malfunction promotes tumorigenesis and progression, including the oncogenic processes of fusion oncoproteins (FOs) expression, tumor suppressor gene mutation, epigenetic modification defect, and DDR repair abnormality, as well as the tumor progression processes of proliferation and metastasis, dysregulation of autophagy, and metabolic reprogramming. Promising therapeutic strategies are then proposed.Finally, the existing research is prospected. The above insights drive the innovation of LLPS-based tumor therapeutic strategies and the development of targeted antitumor drugs.
Keywords: liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), tumor, Emerging perspective, tumorigenesis, progression, Treatment
Received: 01 Apr 2025; Accepted: 05 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jian, Xu, Xiang, Wang, Wang, Zhang, Li, Lin and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chuan Zheng, TCM Regulating Metabolic Diseases Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.