New paper on modeling active droplets

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Schematic image of an active droplet regulated by enzymes

Schematic image of an active droplet regulated by enzymes

Our paper "Controlling biomolecular condensates via chemical reactions" has been published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. In this work, we identify four ingredients to control droplets via chemical reactions:

  1. There is a droplet material that phase separates from a solvent

  2. A chemical transition turns the droplet material into a soluble form

  3. A fuel breaks detailed balance of the chemical transition

  4. Reaction kinetics differ between the droplet and the dilute phase

We carefully derive these ingredients using non-equilibrium thermodynamics. In particular, we show that enzymes segregating into the droplet can control droplet size and stabilize multiple droplets. We showed earlier in work with our colleagues from MPI-BPC that such controlling enzymes are typical in the case of biomolecular condensates in cells. Our theory thus underlines how cells can control their biomolecular condensates using enzymatic reactions and it provides the conceptional framework to study particular systems in detail.