BPCPPDYSOE21 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 14: Focus Phase Separation in Biological Systems I (joint session BP/CPP)
BP 14.4: Talk
Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 10:00–10:30, BPc
Interactions of droplets with polymer networks at the mesh and continuum scale — •Thomas J Boeddeker1, Estefania Vidal2, Kathryn A Rosowski1, David Zwicker2, and Eric R Dufresne1 — 1ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland — 2MPI DS, Göttingen, Germany
Phase-separation of biomolecules in cells takes place in a complex environment crossed by multiple filaments of the cytoskeleton or chromatin. Interactions between the emerging protein droplets and filaments take place over different length scales and may lead to motion and deformation of both network and droplet. In this shared talk, Thomas presents experimental work on the interactions of stress granules, a phase-separated protein-RNA droplet in the cytosol, with the heterogeneous microtubule network at the mesh scale. Inspired by observations in the cell, we then turn to synthetic gels where elastic effects produce ripening in stiffer materials leading to a dissolution front. Estefania presents a theoretical framework for the observed ripening in gradients of network stiffness at the continuum scale. Our combined results present an initial approach to understand the complex interactions throughout phase separation in an elastic network.