Exchange controls coarsening of surface condensates

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Rossetto, Riccardo, Ernst, Marcel, Zwicker, David
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Rossetto, Riccardo
Ernst, Marcel
Zwicker, David
author_facet Rossetto, Riccardo
Ernst, Marcel
Zwicker, David
contents Biological membranes often exhibit heterogeneous protein patterns, which cells control. Strong patterns, like the polarity spot in budding yeast, can be described as surface condensates, formed by physical interactions between constituents. However, it is unclear how these interactions affect the material exchange with the bulk. To study this, we analyze a thermodynamically consistent model, which reveals that passive exchange generally accelerates the coarsening of surface condensates. Active exchange can further accelerate coarsening, although it can also fully arrest it and induce complex patterns involving various length scales. We reveal how these behaviors are related to non-local transport via diffusion through the bulk, rationalizing the various scaling laws we observe and allowing us to interpret biologically relevant scenarios.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_03619
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exchange controls coarsening of surface condensates
Rossetto, Riccardo
Ernst, Marcel
Zwicker, David
Biological Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Biological membranes often exhibit heterogeneous protein patterns, which cells control. Strong patterns, like the polarity spot in budding yeast, can be described as surface condensates, formed by physical interactions between constituents. However, it is unclear how these interactions affect the material exchange with the bulk. To study this, we analyze a thermodynamically consistent model, which reveals that passive exchange generally accelerates the coarsening of surface condensates. Active exchange can further accelerate coarsening, although it can also fully arrest it and induce complex patterns involving various length scales. We reveal how these behaviors are related to non-local transport via diffusion through the bulk, rationalizing the various scaling laws we observe and allowing us to interpret biologically relevant scenarios.
title Exchange controls coarsening of surface condensates
topic Biological Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03619