Computational Studies of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation within Elastic and Inelastic Networks

This research employs Molecular Dynamics (MD) to investigate Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation (LLPS) within elastic and inelastic networks, with a focus on the role of chromatin in regulating biomolecular condensates in the cell nucleus. Chromatin is modeled as bead-spring chains with a Finite Extensible Nonlinear Elastic (FENE) potential, while condensates particles are represented using a Lennard-Jones potential. Our simulations reveal that increasing the network crosslinking density reduces droplet coarsening, aligning with expected trends.

We further explore the effects of hyperelasticity by comparing FENE and Harmonic bond potentials, observing differences in droplet morphology across varying simulation parameters. Some simulations produce highly non-spherical droplets, suggesting that network heterogeneity may have a nontrivial influence on LLPS behavior.