SKM 2023 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 35: Statistical Physics of Biological Systems I (joint session BP/DY)
DY 35.9: Talk
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 12:00–12:15, TOE 317
Control of non-equilibrium chemical reactions via phase separation — •Sudarshana Laha1,2, Jonathan Bauermann1,2, Tyler S. Harmon3, Frank Jülicher1,2, Thomas C.T. Michaels4, and Christoph A. Weber5 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems Dresden , Germany — 2Center for Systems Biology Dresden , Germany — 3IFW Dresden, Germany — 4ETH Zürich, Switzerland — 5Institute of Physics, University of Augsburg, Germany
Fuel-driven out-of-equilibrium chemical reactions are spatially organized using compartments in living cells. To what extent the properties of chemical reactions are altered by the compartments relative to homogeneous systems and the underlying physical principles are less explored. Here, we derive a theoretical framework to study such chemical reactions in the presence of compartments. We highlight the different governing kinetic equations for the reactants in diffusion-limited and reaction-limited regimes. We show that for two-state transition processes, the turnover of the product can be significantly affected in the limit of infinitely fast diffusion of the components. We can further derive the optimal compartment volume analytically which shows how phase separation parameters can affect the turnover. We further observe that the initial rate can be strongly modified for enzymatic and nucleation processes. These aspects allow us to understand better the control of such processes and exemplify the role of enzymes in compartments to speed up the reaction. This understanding is crucial for synthetically designing of cells as compartments and establishing communication between them.