Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 11, 2025

Study of Protein Dynamics via Neutron Spin Echo Spectroscopy
Published on: April 13, 2022
Cahn-Hilliard dynamical models for condensed biomolecular systems
Sarah M Groves1,2, Min-Jhe Lu3,2, Astrid Catalina Alvarez-Yela1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, U.S.A.
Abstract:
Biomolecular condensates create dynamic subcellular compartments that alter systems-level properties of the networks surrounding them. One model combining soluble and condensed states is the Cahn-Hilliard equation, which specifies a diffuse interface between the two phases. Customized approaches required to solve this equation are largely inaccessible. Using two complementary numerical strategies, we built stable, self-consistent Cahn-Hilliard solvers in Python, MATLAB, and Julia. The algorithms simulated the complete time evolution of condensed droplets as they dissolved or persisted, relating critical droplet size to a coefficient for the diffuse interface in the Cahn-Hilliard equation. We applied this universal relationship to the chromosomal passenger complex, a multi-protein assembly that reportedly condenses on mitotic chromosomes. The fully constrained Cahn-Hilliard simulations yielded dewetting and coarsening behaviors that closely mirrored experiments in different cell types. The Cahn-Hilliard equation tests whether condensate dynamics behave as a phase-separated liquid, and its numerical solutions advance generalized modeling of biomolecular systems.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Molecular Models
Noncovalent Attractions in Biomolecules
Four types of noncovalent interactions are hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces, ionic bonds, and hydrophobic interactions.
Hydrogen bonding results from the electrostatic attraction of a hydrogen atom covalently bonded to a strong-electronegative atom like oxygen,...
The Fluid Mosaic Model
Mechanistic Models: Compartment Models in Algorithms for Numerical Problem Solving
In individual population analyses, different algorithms are employed, such as Cauchy's method, which uses a...
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
Mechanistic Models: Overview of Compartment Models

