Long-range transport of biomolecular condensates by Marangoni effect

Abstract

How mesoscale cargos such as biomolecular condensates are transported and spatially positioned within cells remains a fundamental question in cell biology. During Caenorhabditis elegans zygote polarization, a substantial fraction of P granules undergoes persistent anterior-to-posterior motion that cannot be fully explained by dissolution-recondensation. Here, combining microfluidic reconstitution, quantitative micropipette aspiration and live-cell imaging, we show that a MEG-3 concentration gradient generates interfacial-tension asymmetry and drives the directed transport of PGL-3-RNA co-condensates in vitro and P granules in vivo through the Marangoni effect. This framework enables parameter-free quantitative predictions of condensate transport. Orthogonal molecular perturbations abolish or reverse directional migration, directly linking interfacial properties to transport behavior and establishing the specificity of this mechanism. Together, our findings identify the Marangoni effect as a previously unrecognized mechanism for intracellular transport of biomolecular condensates and provide direct causal evidence that condensate emergent properties can contribute to physiological organization.