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Abstract In April 2023, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), in partnership with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Aging, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, hosted a 2‐day online workshop to discuss neural plasticity in energy homeostasis and obesity. The goal was to provide a broad view of current knowledge while identifying research questions and challenges regarding neural systems that control food intake and energy balance. This review includes highlights from the meeting and is intended both to introduce unfamiliar audiences with concepts central to energy homeostasis, feeding, and obesity and to highlight up‐and‐coming research in these areas that may be of special interest to those with a background in these fields. The overarching theme of this review addresses plasticity within the central and peripheral nervous systems that regulates and influences eating, emphasizing distinctions between healthy and disease states. This is by no means a comprehensive review because this is a broad and rapidly developing area. However, we have pointed out relevant reviews and primary articles throughout, as well as gaps in current understanding and opportunities for developments in the field. 

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a pandemic that seriously threatens global health. SARS-CoV-2 propagates by packaging its RNA genome into membrane enclosures in host cells. The packaging of the viral genome into the nascent virion is mediated by the nucleocapsid (N) protein, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we show that the N protein forms biomolecular condensates with viral genomic RNA both in vitro and in mammalian cells. While the N protein forms spherical assemblies with homopolymeric RNA substrates that do not form base pairing interactions, it forms asymmetric condensates with viral RNA strands. Cross-linking mass spectrometry (CLMS) identified a region that drives interactions between N proteins in condensates, and deletion of this region disrupts phase separation. We also identified small molecules that alter the size and shape of N protein condensates and inhibit the proliferation of SARS-CoV-2 in infected cells. These results suggest that the N protein may utilize biomolecular condensation to package the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome into a viral particle.