Conveners
R2-4 Theoretical and computational biophysics (DPMB) | Biophysique théorique et calculatoire (DPMB)
- Christopher Bergevin (York University)
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are proteins lacking hydrophobic but are enriched in polar, charged, and aromatic amino acids. IDPs do not fold into a unique structure in isolation and often remain disordered in performing biological function. Recently, some IDPs have been discovered to undergo reversible liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in aqueous solution, forming membraneless...
We examine the electrophoresis of charged spherical particles in microfluidic devices made of alternating wells and narrow channels, including a system previously used to separate long DNA molecules. Our computer simulations predict that such systems can be used to separate spherical particles of different sizes that share the same free-solution mobility. Interestingly, the electrophoretic...
Diffusion plays a critical role in many biological processes, but also in a wide range of experimental devices such as gel electrophoresis and sieving. The well-known Ogston model predicts that the diffusivity of a migrating particle through a random network of fibers (e.g., a gel matrix) is proportional to the fractional volume available to the migrating particle in the given medium. As such,...
