TY - JOUR
T1 - Robust Microphase Separation Through Chemical Reaction Networks
AU - Blanchini, Franco
AU - Franco, Elisa
AU - Giordano, Giulia
AU - Osmanovic, Dino
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 IEEE.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The interaction of phase-separating systems with chemical reactions is of great interest in various contexts, from biology to material science. In biology, phase separation is thought to be the driving force behind the formation of biomolecular condensates, i.e., organelles without a membrane that are associated with cellular metabolism, stress response, and development. RNA, proteins, and small molecules participating in the formation of condensates are also involved in a variety of biochemical reactions: how do the chemical reaction dynamics influence the process of phase separation? Here we are interested in finding chemical reactions that can arrest the growth of condensates, generating stable spatial patterns of finite size (microphase separation), in contrast with the otherwise spontaneous (unstable) growth of condensates. We consider a classical continuum model for phase separation coupled to a chemical reaction network (CRN), and we seek conditions for the emergence of stable oscillations of the solution in space. Given reaction dynamics with uncertain rate constants, but known structure, we derive easily computable conditions to assess whether microphase separation is impossible, possible for some parameter values, or robustly guaranteed for all parameter values within given bounds. Our results establish a framework to evaluate which classes of CRNs favor the emergence of condensates with finite size, a question that is broadly relevant to understanding and engineering life.
AB - The interaction of phase-separating systems with chemical reactions is of great interest in various contexts, from biology to material science. In biology, phase separation is thought to be the driving force behind the formation of biomolecular condensates, i.e., organelles without a membrane that are associated with cellular metabolism, stress response, and development. RNA, proteins, and small molecules participating in the formation of condensates are also involved in a variety of biochemical reactions: how do the chemical reaction dynamics influence the process of phase separation? Here we are interested in finding chemical reactions that can arrest the growth of condensates, generating stable spatial patterns of finite size (microphase separation), in contrast with the otherwise spontaneous (unstable) growth of condensates. We consider a classical continuum model for phase separation coupled to a chemical reaction network (CRN), and we seek conditions for the emergence of stable oscillations of the solution in space. Given reaction dynamics with uncertain rate constants, but known structure, we derive easily computable conditions to assess whether microphase separation is impossible, possible for some parameter values, or robustly guaranteed for all parameter values within given bounds. Our results establish a framework to evaluate which classes of CRNs favor the emergence of condensates with finite size, a question that is broadly relevant to understanding and engineering life.
KW - Chemical reaction networks
KW - phase separation
KW - robustness analysis
KW - stability
KW - uncertain systems
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85161512320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/LCSYS.2023.3283934
DO - 10.1109/LCSYS.2023.3283934
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:85161512320
SN - 2475-1456
VL - 7
SP - 2281
EP - 2286
JO - IEEE Control Systems Letters
JF - IEEE Control Systems Letters
ER -