Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 39: Focus Session: Theoretical Modeling and Simulation of Biomolecular Condensates III (joint session CPP/BP)
BP 39.5: Vortrag
Freitag, 13. März 2026, 10:45–11:00, ZEU/0260
Entropic Clustering of Stickers Induces Aging in Biocondensates — •Hugo Le Roy1 and Paolo De Los Rios2 — 1Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy — 2Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, results from the aggregation of synaptic proteins such as alpha-synuclein. In a healthy presynaptic neuron, effective neurotransmission relies on the spatial organization of synaptic vesicles within phase-separated droplets. These vesicles release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft to activate ion-gated channels on the postsynaptic neuron.
In this work, we investigate how this transmission process is impaired during neurodegeneration. Specifically, we focus on the solidification of these phase-separated droplets, a phenomenon described as aging, leading to protein aggregation and associated with the emergence of pathology. We explore the connection between the mechanical properties of the condensates and their microscopic structure using a minimal physical model that treats complex molecules as stickers and spacers. We show that entropy maximization of spacers leads to an effective attractive force between stickers. As a result, our system displays a surprisingly slow relaxation toward equilibrium, reminiscent of glassy systems and consistent with the liquid-to-solid transition observed in aging droplets. By analyzing the clustering dynamics of stickers, we successfully explain the microscopic origin of this glassy relaxation.
Keywords: aging; neurdogenerative diseases; condensate; theoretical biophysics; rheology