Location and Concentration of Aromatic-Rich Segments Dictates the Percolating Inter-Molecular Network and Viscoelastic Properties of Ageing Condensates.

Maturation of functional liquid-like biomolecular condensates into solid-like aggregates has been linked to the onset of several neurodegenerative disorders. Low-complexity aromatic-rich kinked segments (LARKS) contained in numerous RNA-binding proteins can promote aggregation by forming inter-protein β-sheet fibrils that accumulate over time and ultimately drive the liquid-to-solid transition of the condensates. Here, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are combined with sequence-dependent coarse-grained models of various resolutions to investigate the role of LARKS abundance and position within the amino acid sequence in the maturation of condensates.

Alternating one-phase and two-phase crystallization mechanisms in octahedral patchy colloids.

Colloidal systems possess unique features to investigate the governing principles behind liquid-to-solid transitions. The phase diagram and crystallization landscape of colloidal particles can be finely tuned by the range, number, and angular distribution of attractive interactions between the constituent particles. In this work, we present a computational study of colloidal patchy particles with high-symmetry bonding-six patches displaying octahedral symmetry-that can crystallize into distinct competing ordered phases: a cubic simple (CS) lattice, a body-centered cubic phase, and two face-centered cubic solids (orientationally ordered and disordered).