Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 17: Poster Session II

BP 17.69: Poster

Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 18:00–20:30, P4

Fluctuating liquid inclusions morphology in biomolecular condensates driven by fuel-dependent binding agents — •Leonardo Silva-Dias and Christoph A. Weber — Universität Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany

The presence of aggregation-prone proteins in non-dilute, multi-component solutions, such as the cellular environment, can lead to the formation of protein aggregates. In these environments, such proteins may also undergo phase separation, forming biomolecular condensates. Both processes are regulated by specialized molecules known as binding agents, examples of which include RNA, enzymes, and chaperones. These binding agents continuously consume biological fuels, driving the system out of equilibrium and enabling the emergence of complex behaviors, such as morphological changes in the condensates. Specifically, recent experimental evidence has shown that a system composed of aggregation-prone proteins and ATP-driven chaperones induces the formation of condensates with a fluctuating liquid inclusions morphology. Based on these observations, the present work provides a theoretical framework to describe the emergence of the fluctuating liquid inclusions state. The proposed description is developed through a mean-field model that accounts for chemical reactions and phase separation in the presence of stochastic fluctuations. In this system, we observed that local fluctuations trigger multiple nucleation events within the condensates, leading to the growth of many liquid inclusion structures, which ripen, dissolve, and renucleate.

Keywords: Aggregation-prone proteins; Fuel-driven binding agents; Biomolecular condensates; Active emulsions