Biomolecular condensates are membraneless bodies that concentrate biomolecules. Many condensates form via reversible phase transitions and these transitions are driven by multivalent protein and RNA molecules. There is growing interest in the question of how condensates form, how they are regulated, how they dissolve, and how they contribute to cellular functions. The central role of condensates in dysregulation of cellular functions and the development of therapeutics that modulate condensates in bespoke ways is also an area of growing interest. These emerging interests call for a state-of-the-art appraisal of where things stand with respect to key questions regarding the encoding and modulation of the driving forces for condensate formation. In this three lecture series Rohit Pappu will provide an overview of the key physical principles underlying the sequence-to-phase behavior relationships of different archetypes of multivalent protein and RNA molecules. The lectures will largely stay focused on discoveries made individually and jointly by the Pappu lab and key collaborators over the past 3-4 years.

Part 3: Phase transitions in multicomponent systems. This lecture will attempt to go beyond the descriptions of phase transitions in systems with one type of macromolecule and a solvent. The focus will turn to ongoing work in the Pappu lab and those of collaborators on the effects of ligand modulated phase behavior—the Wyman-Gill concept of polyphasic linkage—and the complexities of phase transitions in multicomponent systems that combine the effects of homotypic and heterotypic interactions. We will conclude with a short inventory of open questions and investigations being pursued in the Pappu lab, providing an overview of some of the tools that are enabling these investigations.

Start time in various timezones:
7:00 am PDT
9:00 am CDT
10:00 am EDT
2:00 pm UTC
3:00 pm BST
4:00 pm CET

Note, this is the last talk in a three-part series.
Read more about part one here.
Read more about part two here.

See the video from part one here.
See the video from part two here.
See the video from part three here.

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