English

Enzyme-enriched condensates show self-propulsion, positioning, and coexistence

Biological Physics 2023-03-29 v1 Soft Condensed Matter

Abstract

Enzyme-enriched condensates can organize the spatial distribution of their substrates by catalyzing non-equilibrium reactions. Conversely, an inhomogeneous substrate distribution induces enzyme fluxes through substrate-enzyme interactions. We find that condensates move towards the center of a confining domain when this feedback is weak. Above a feedback threshold, they exhibit self-propulsion, leading to oscillatory dynamics. Moreover, catalysis-driven enzyme fluxes can lead to interrupted coarsening, resulting in equidistant condensate positioning, and to condensate division.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2301.00392,
  title  = {Enzyme-enriched condensates show self-propulsion, positioning, and coexistence},
  author = {Leonardo Demarchi and Andriy Goychuk and Ivan Maryshev and Erwin Frey},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2301.00392},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T07:58:47.874Z