Surface wetting by kinetic control of liquid-liquid phase separation

细胞尺寸的限域空间因聚合物的长度依赖性润湿效应改变浓聚合物溶液中的分子扩散

Cell-sized confinements alter molecular diffusion in concentrated polymer solutions due to length-dependent wetting of polymers

该研究以单组分聚合物溶液为对象，发现细胞尺寸限域下长链低润湿性聚合物聚集于液滴中心引发异质分布，使中心小分子扩散慢于本体，经分子模拟验证，揭示限域可作为多分散聚合物溶液的结构调控因子特异性调控分子扩散。

表面结合润湿动力学理论

Theory of Wetting Dynamics with Surface Binding

本文通过非平衡热力学推导表面结合与体相耦合的润湿动力学方程，发现表面结合通过在表面内成核液滴加速润湿，并揭示二维表面液滴可通过结合亲和力调控液滴润湿动力学。

A continuum theory of phase separation kinetics for active Brownian particles

Active Brownian particles (ABPs), when subject to purely repulsive interactions, are known to undergo activity-induced phase separation broadly resembling an equilibrium (attraction-induced) gas-liquid coexistence. Here we present an accurate continuum theory for the dynamics of phase-separating ABPs, derived by direct coarse-graining, capturing leading-order density gradient terms alongside an effective bulk free energy. Such gradient terms do not obey detailed balance; yet we find coarsening dynamics closely resembling that of equilibrium phase separation. Our continuum theory is numerically…

Mesoscale phase separation of chromatin in the nucleus

Intact-organism imaging of Drosophila larvae reveals and quantifies chromatin-aqueous phase separation. The chromatin can be organized near the lamina layer of the nuclear envelope, conventionally fill the nucleus, be organized centrally, or as a wetting droplet. These transitions are controlled by changes in nuclear volume and the interaction of chromatin with the lamina (part of the nuclear envelope) at the nuclear periphery. Using a simple polymeric model that includes the key features of chromatin self-attraction and its binding to the lamina, we demonstrate theoretically that it is the co…

Modelling spatial constraints and scaling effects of catalyst phase separation on linear pathway kinetics

Chemical reactions are usually studied under the assumption that both substrates and catalysts are well mixed (WM) throughout the system. Although this is often applicable to test-tube experimental conditions, it is not realistic in cellular environments, where biomolecules can undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) and form condensates, leading to important functional outcomes, including the modulation of catalytic action. Similar processes may also play a role in protocellular systems, like primitive coacervates, or in membrane-assisted prebiotic pathways. Here we explore whether the …

Energetics and Kinetics of Primary Charge Separation in Bacterial Photosynthesis

We report the results of Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and formal modeling of the free energy surfaces and reaction rates of primary charge separation in the reaction center of \textit{Rhodobacter sphaeroides}. Two simulation protocols were used to produce MD trajectories. Standard force field potentials were employed in the first protocol. In the second protocol, the special pair was made polarizable to reproduce a high polarizability of its photoexcited state observed by Stark spectroscopy. The charge distribution between covalent and charge-transfer states of the special pair was dyna…