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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 14: Poster Session II
BP 14.95: Poster
Dienstag, 10. März 2026, 18:00–21:00, P2
Exchange controls coarsening of surface condensates — •Riccardo Rossetto1,2, Marcel Ernst1,2, Gerrit Wellecke1,2, and David Zwicker1 — 1Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Am Faßberg 17, 37077 Göttingen, Germany — 2University of Göttingen, Institute for the Dynamics of Complex Systems, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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 leads to new equilibrium phenomena, such as re-entrant phase transitions, and 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.
Keywords: phase separation; surface condensates; non-local transport; pattern formation; material exchange