English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Biomolecular condensates such as membraneless organelles, underpinned byliquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), are important for physiologicalfunction, with electrostatics -- among other interaction types -- being aprominent force in their assembly. Charge interactions of intrinsicallydisordered proteins (IDPs) and other biomolecules are sensitive to the aqueousdielectric environment. Because the relative permittivity of protein issignificantly lower than that of water, the interior of an IDP condensate is arelatively low-dielectric regime, which, aside from its possible functionaleffects on client molecules, should facilitate stronger electrostaticinteractions among the scaffold IDPs. To gain insight into this LLPS-induceddielectric heterogeneity, addressing in particular whether a low-dielectriccondensed phase entails more favorable LLPS than that posited by assuming IDPelectrostatic interactions are uniformly modulated by the higher dielectricconstant of the pure solvent, we consider a simplified multiple-chain model ofpolyampholytes immersed in explicit solvents that are either polarizable orpossess a permanent dipole. Notably, simulated phase behaviors of these systemsexhibit only minor to moderate differences from those obtained usingimplicit-solvent models with a uniform relative permittivity equals to that ofpure solvent. Buttressed by theoretical treatments developed here using randomphase approximation and polymer field-theoretic simulations, these observationsindicate a partial compensation of effects between favorable solvent-mediatedinteractions among the polyampholytes in the condensed phase and favorablepolyampholyte-solvent interactions in the dilute phase, often netting only aminor enhancement of overall LLPS propensity from the very dielectricheterogeneity that arises from the LLPS itself. Further ramifications of thisprinciple are discussed.

A Simple Explicit-Solvent Model of Polyampholyte Phase Behaviors and its Ramifications for Dielectric Effects in Biomolecular Condensates