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Anomalous Hard-Wall Repulsion between Polymers in Solvent Mixtures and Its Implication for Biomolecular Condensates.
1Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of California Berkeley, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Berkeley, California 94720, USA and Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|July 31, 2025
Summary
This study reveals that polymer-cosolvent interactions can create a repulsive force between condensates, preventing their fusion. This mechanism, driven by cosolvent condensation, stabilizes biomolecular condensates.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Soft Matter Physics
- Computational Chemistry
Background:
- Polymers in mixed solvents model intracellular biomolecular condensates.
- Understanding polymer-solvent interactions is crucial for condensate stability.
Purpose of the Study:
- Quantify polymer interactions in solvent-cosolvent mixtures.
- Investigate polymer-assisted cosolvent condensation.
- Characterize the potential of mean force between polymer condensates.
Main Methods:
- Application of variational theory to control polymer center of mass.
- Simulation of polymer-cosolvent systems.
- Analysis of inter-condensate forces.
Main Results:
- Strong polymer-cosolvent affinity induces polymer-assisted cosolvent condensation.
- Anomalous hard-wall repulsion observed between condensates upon contact.
- Repulsion intensifies with increased affinity or cosolvent fraction.
- Mechanism involves discontinuous local cosolvent condensation.
Conclusions:
- Hard-wall repulsion acts as a kinetic barrier, preventing condensate coalescence.
- Cosolvent regulation plays a key role in stabilizing biomolecular condensates.
- Proteins, acting as cosolvents, intrinsically stabilize condensates.
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