Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 38: Biopolymers, Biomaterials and Bioinspired Functional Materials I (joint session CPP/BP)

CPP 38.3: Talk

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 15:45–16:00, ZEU/0255

A minimalist view on biopolymer phase separation and aging — •Jasper Michels — Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

Phase separation of proteins is a ubiquitous process by which cells regulate biological processes. In aberrant cases, such as encountered in neurodegeneration, initially liquid condensates age to become more solid-like. Understanding the interplay between phase separation and aging seems essential in the development of new therapeutic strategies. We apply minimal models that aim to capture the essence of biological transitions in terms of driving forces and thermodynamics. Models discriminating between mono- and multivalent directed association on the one hand and non-specific interactions on the other appear surprisingly versatile in reproducing and predicting biopolymer phase behavior, while at the same time providing essential mechanistic insight. We will review our efforts, combining theory with experiments and demonstrating how relatively simple descriptions can (re)produce complex multi-component phase behavior. We will also present a dynamic version of the model, which provides for a thermodynamically fully consistent and intuitive description of the experimentally observed changes in viscoelasticity during aging. Our calculations explain how the stickiness of the proteins changes with time and concentration and how the coupling between association and solvation determines condensate viscoelasticity.

Keywords: liquid-liquid phase separation; aging; viscoelasticity; multivalency