Biomolecular condensates: from biology towards materials

Biomolecular condensates are emerging as a smart strategy evolved by cells to coordinate reactions in space and time. We aim to recapitulate this class of liquid-​liquid phase separated compartments in biotechnology to generate adaptve materials and microreactors, capable to change their composition and material properties in response to external stimuli. These programmable compartments could find applications in many areas of drug discovery, delivery and manufacturing, as well as in chemical synthesis.

Contacts

Condensates for microreactors: Florence, Marcos

Condensates for separation and diagnostics: Francesca, Philippe

Key publications

external pageU. Capasso Palmiero et al. 'Programmable Zwitterionic Droplets as Biomolecular Sorters and Model of Membraneless Organelles" Advanced Materials,2022call_made

external pageA.M. Küffner et al. "Acceleration of an Enzymatic Reaction in Liquid Phase Separated Compartments Based on Intrinsically Disordered Protein Domains" ChemSystemsChem, 2020call_made

external pageU. Capasso Palmiero et al. 'Adaptive Chemo-enzymatic Microreactors Composed of Inorganic Nanoparticles and Bio-inspired Intrinsically Disordered Proteins" Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., 2020call_made

external pageL. Faltova, A.M. Küffner et al. "Multifunctional Protein Materials and Microreactors Using Low Complexity Domains as Molecular Adhesives" ACS Nano, 2018call_made