Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40909695›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2025

Biomolecular phase boundaries are described by a solubility product that accounts for variable stoichiometry and soluble oligomers.

Sk Ashif Akram, Aniruddha Chattaraj, Terry Salava, Jonathon A Ditlev, Leslie M Loew, Jeremy D Schmit

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Sk Ashif AkramDepartment of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
Aniruddha ChattarajR. D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06030.
Terry SalavaDepartment of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
Jonathon A DitlevProgram in Molecular Medicine, and Program in Cell and Systems Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1E8, Canada.
Leslie M LoewR. D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06030.ORCID 0000-0002-1851-4646
Jeremy D SchmitDepartment of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0104-5468

Funding

Mechanistic Modeling of Cellular SystemsR24GM137787 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · PI Pedro Mendes, Ion I. Moraru · 2020 to 2026
$8.9M
Mesoscale spatial kinetic modeling of cell systemsR01GM132859 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · PI LOEW, LESLIE M · 2019 to 2022
$1.4M
Structure-function properties in liquid organellesR01GM141235 · NIGMS · KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY · PI SCHMIT, JEREMY DAVID · 2021 to 2024
$1.3M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM132859NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM141235NIGMS NIH HHS R24 GM137787
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The solubility product is a rigorous description of the phase boundary for salt precipitation and has previously been shown to qualitatively describe the condensation of biomolecules. Here we present a derivation of the solubility product showing that the solubility product is also a robust description of biomolecule phase boundaries if care is taken to account for soluble oligomers and variable composition within the dense phase. Our calculation describes equilibrium between unbound monomers, the dense phase, and an ensemble of oligomer complexes with significant finite-size contributions to their free energy. The biomolecule phase boundary very nearly resembles the power law predicted by the solubility product when plotted as a function of the monomer concentrations. However, this simple form is concealed by the presence of oligomers in the dilute phase. Accounting for the oligomer ensemble introduces complexities to the power law phase boundary including re-entrant behavior and large shifts for stoichiometrically matched molecules. We show that allowing variable stoichiometry in the dense phase expands the two phase region, which appears as curvature of the phase boundary on a double-logarithmic plot. Furthermore, this curvature can be used to predict variations in the dense phase composition at different points along the phase boundary. Finally, we show how the solubility product power law can be identified in experiments by using dilute phase dissociation constants to account for the oligomer ensemble.

Identifiers

PMID40909695
PMCPMC12407863

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.