How protein droplets change the efficiency of cellular cleanup

How it works

Inside cells, proteins sometimes gather into droplet-like groups. These groups can remain fluid, like a liquid, or become more gel-like and less mobile. We study how such physical changes affect the removal of unwanted material.

A protein called p62 helps collect proteins marked for degradation and forms these droplet-like assemblies. A 2026 study showed that adding a phosphate group to part of p62 can turn relatively large, fluid assemblies into smaller, more gel-like ones.

This change makes the assemblies interact more effectively with the membrane that surrounds material for recycling, helping unwanted proteins be broken down. The assemblies are therefore not simply storage sites: their physical state helps control cellular cleanup.

What we want to learn next

We want to understand in greater detail how a small chemical change in p62 affects the stiffness of an entire assembly and how strongly it associates with membranes.

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