Related papers: Spatial Organization of Phase-separated DNA Drople…
The liquid-liquid phase separation of biomolecules is an important process for intracellular organization. Biomolecular sequence combinatorics leads to a large variety of proteins and nucleic acids which can interact to form a diversity of…
Cells operate in part by compartmentalizing chemical reactions. For example, recent work has shown that chromatin, the material that contains the cell's genome, can auto-regulate its structure by utilizing reaction products (proteins, RNA)…
In living cells, proteins involved in specialized biochemical functions are often spatially organized within biomolecular condensates. Increasing evidence suggests that some of these condensates, including DNA repair condensates, emerge…
DNA is now firmly established as a versatile and robust platform for achieving synthetic nanostructures. While the folding of single molecules into complex structures is routinely achieved through engineering basepair sequences, much less…
DNA has the potential to realize a controllable liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) system, because the design of its base sequences results in programmable interactions. Here, we have developed a novel DNA-based LLPS system which enables…
In many biopolymer solutions, attractive interactions that stabilize finite-sized clusters at low concentrations also promote phase separation at high concentrations. Here we study a model biopolymer system that exhibits the opposite…
We evaluate, by means of molecular dynamics simulations employing a realistic DNA coarse-grained model, the phase behaviour and the structural and dynamic properties of tetravalent DNA nanostars, i.e. nanoconstructs completely made of DNA.…
Phase separation can drive spatial organization of multicomponent mixtures. For instance in developing animal embryos, effective phase separation descriptions have been used to account for the spatial organization of different tissue types.…
Liquid droplets of biomolecules serve as organizers of the cellular interior and are of interest in biosensing and biomaterials applications. Here, we investigate means to tune the interfacial properties of a model biomolecular liquid…
We present a phase-field model based on the Cahn-Hilliard equation to investigate the properties of phase separation in DNA nanostar systems. Leveraging a realistic free-energy functional derived from Wertheim theory, our model captures the…
DNA is an astonishing material that can be used as a molecular building block to construct periodic arrays and devices with nanoscale accuracy and precision. Here, we present simple bead-spring model of DNA nanostars having three, four and…
Crystallization of supersaturated liquids usually starts by heterogeneous nucleation. Mounting evidence shows that even homogeneous nucleation in simple liquids takes place in two steps; first a dense amorphous precursor forms, and the…
Functionalization of nanoparticles or colloids is increasingly being used to develop customizable "atoms". Functionalization by attaching single strands of DNA allows for direct control of the binding between nanoparticles, since…
The physics and morphology of biomolecular condensates formed through liquid-liquid phase separation underpin diverse biological processes, exemplified by the nested organization of nucleoli that facilitates ribosome biogenesis. Here, we…
Molecular motor proteins form the basis of cellular dynamics. Recently, notable efforts have led to the creation of their DNA-based mimics, which can carry out complex nanoscale motion. However, such functional analogues have not yet been…
Demixing of binary liquids is a ubiquitous transition, which is explained using a well-established thermodynamic formalism that requires equality of intensive thermodynamics parameters across the phase boundaries. Demixing transitions also…
Droplet formation has emerged as an essential concept for the spatiotemporal organisation of biomolecules in cells. However, classical descriptions of droplet dynamics based on passive liquid-liquid phase separation cannot capture the…
Crystallization during droplet evaporation gives rise to complex, self-organized structures, yet the mechanisms underlying the emergence of ordered functional phases remain poorly understood. In this study, we present a comprehensive,…
Biomolecular condensates play a central role in the spatial organization of living matter. Their formation is now well understood as a form of liquid-liquid phase separation that occurs very far from equilibrium. For instance, they can be…
Living and engineered systems rely on the stable coexistence of two interspersed liquid phases. Yet surface tension drives their complete separation. Here we show that stable droplets of uniform and tuneable size can be produced through…