RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Phase separation provides a mechanism to reduce noise in cells JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 524231 DO 10.1101/524231 A1 Oltsch, Florian A1 Klosin, Adam A1 Julicher, Frank A1 Hyman, Anthony A. A1 Zechner, Christoph YR 2019 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/01/22/524231.abstract AB A central problem in cellular control is how cells cope with the inherent noise in gene expression. Although transcriptional and posttranscriptional feedback mechanisms can suppress noise, they are often slow, and cannot explain how cells buffer acute fluctuations. Here, by using a physical model that links fluctuations in protein concentration to the theory of phase separation, we show that liquid droplets can act as fast and effective buffers for gene expression noise. We confirm our theory experimentally using an engineered phase separating protein that forms liquid-like compartments in mammalian cells. These data suggest a novel role of phase separation in biological information processing.