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SUMMARY:Theoretical insights into multi-component phase separation - Thoma
 s Michaels (ETH Zürich)
DTSTART:20231010T144000Z
DTEND:20231010T152000Z
UID:TALK204784@talks.cam.ac.uk
DESCRIPTION:Phase separation of biomolecules is a fundamental process that
  gives rise to membraneless organelles critical for the spatiotemporal org
 anization of the cell. These biomolecular condensates typically consist of
  multiple components\, yet understanding how interactions between these co
 mponents influence condensate stability has proven challenging. In this ta
 lk\, I will present our theoretical efforts to study multi-component phase
  separation and connect experimental measurements with the underlying phys
 ical parameters of phase separation. First\, I will discuss self-consisten
 t approaches to obtain analytical solutions for binodal concentrations wit
 hin the Flory Huggins model. I will demonstrate how these solutions can be
  effectively employed to fit experimental binodal data\, enabling us to ex
 tract key underlying physical parameters of phase separation. I will then 
 show how the sign of the tie-line gradient is related to interaction energ
 ies in the study of biomolecular phase separation\, opening up a route for
  the characterization of interaction types and compositions in multi-compo
 nent phase-separation systems. Since biological condensates contain multip
 le species of proteins and nucleic acids\, there is a clear need for quant
 itative biophysical characterization of the roles that different component
 s play in the phase-separation process\, and our approach provides a metho
 d for parsing these interactions apart.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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