Countercurrent chromatography as a frontier tool to discover new mechanical roles in liquid-liquid phase separation of cellular biomolecules

The development of countercurrent chromatography (CCC) technology enabled us to achieve higher peak resolutions and more shortened separation times even for protein separation using aqueous two-phase solvent systems composed of polyethylene glycol and inorganic salts (or dextrans). By eliminating the solid support matrix, all analytes can be recovered from the coiled column after the separation is completed. Recently, it has been found that droplets of biomolecules formed by liquid-liquid phase separation in cells closely relate to the transcription, regulation of signal transduction, and formation of amyloids. Meanwhile, although CCC is a separation technique based on liquid-liquid partitioning of analytes between two immiscible phases, the mechanism of separation could suggest some idea concerning the formation of biomolecule droplets in cells. This article describes the recent advances in the CCC apparatus, the coiled separation column, the choice of a suitable two-phase solvent system, and the application to separation and purification of bioactive macromolecules such as proteins and enzymes, and also discusses the possibility of CCC as a tool to reveal new mechanical roles of biomolecule droplets in the cellular environments.