Subcompartmentalization of polyampholyte species in organelle-like condensates is promoted by charge-pattern mismatch and strong excluded-volume interaction

Phys Rev E. 2021 Apr;103(4-1):042406. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.103.042406.

Abstract

Polyampholyte field theory and explicit-chain molecular dynamics models of sequence-specific phase separation of a system with two intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) species indicate consistently that a substantial polymer excluded volume and a significant mismatch of the IDP sequence charge patterns can act in concert, but not in isolation, to demix the two IDP species upon condensation. This finding reveals an energetic-geometric interplay in a stochastic, "fuzzy" molecular recognition mechanism that may facilitate subcompartmentalization of membraneless organelles.