Reaction-Driven Diffusiophoresis of Liquid Condensates: Potential Mechanisms for Intracellular Organization.

ABSTRACT: The cellular environment, characterized by its intricate composition and spatial organization, hosts a variety of organelles, ranging from membrane-bound ones to membraneless structures that are formed through liquid-liquid phase separation. Cells show precise control over the position of such condensates. We demonstrate that organelle movement in external concentration gradients, diffusiophoresis, is distinct from the one of colloids because fluxes can remain finite inside the liquid-phase droplets and movement of the latter arises from incompressibility. Within cellular domains diffusiophoresis naturally arises from biochemical reactions that are driven by a chemical fuel and produce waste. Simulations and analytical arguments within a minimal model of reaction-driven phase separa

SUBMITTER: Hafner G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11223496 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature