Kim Dong Hyun, Ki Mi-Ran, Chung Da Yeon, Pack Seung Pil
Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea.
Institute of Industrial Technology, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea.
Biomolecules. 2025 Jun 13;15(6):861. doi: 10.3390/biom15060861.
Coacervate is a form of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in which a solution containing one or more charged components spontaneously separates into two immiscible liquid phases. Due to their ability to mimic membraneless cellular environments and their high biocompatibility, coacervates have found broad applications across various fields of life sciences. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in biomolecule-based coacervation for biotechnological and biomedical applications. Encapsulation via biomolecule-based coacervation enables high encapsulation efficiency, enhanced stability, and the sustained release of cargos. In the field of tissue engineering, coacervates not only support cell adhesion and proliferation but also serve as printable bioinks with tunable rheological properties for 3D bioprinting. Moreover, biomolecule-based coacervates have been utilized to mimic membraneless organelles, serving as experimental models to understand the origin of life or investigate the mechanisms of biochemical compartmentalization. This review discusses the mechanisms of coacervation induced by various types of biomolecules, evaluates their respective advantages and limitations in applied contexts, and outlines future research directions. Given their modularity and biocompatibility, biomolecule-based coacervates are expected to play a pivotal role in next-generation therapeutic development and the construction of controlled tissue microenvironments, especially when integrated with emerging technologies.
凝聚物是液-液相分离（LLPS）的一种形式，其中含有一种或多种带电成分的溶液会自发分离成两个互不相溶的液相。由于凝聚物能够模拟无膜细胞环境且具有高度生物相容性，因此在生命科学的各个领域都有广泛应用。本综述全面概述了基于生物分子的凝聚作用在生物技术和生物医学应用方面的最新进展。通过基于生物分子的凝聚作用进行封装可实现高封装效率、增强稳定性以及货物的持续释放。在组织工程领域，凝聚物不仅能支持细胞黏附和增殖，还可作为具有可调流变特性的可打印生物墨水用于3D生物打印。此外，基于生物分子的凝聚物已被用于模拟无膜细胞器，作为理解生命起源或研究生化区室化机制的实验模型。本综述讨论了由各种类型生物分子诱导的凝聚作用机制，评估了它们在应用环境中的各自优缺点，并概述了未来的研究方向。鉴于其模块化和生物相容性，基于生物分子的凝聚物有望在下一代治疗开发和可控组织微环境构建中发挥关键作用，特别是与新兴技术相结合时。
