Control of Superselectivity by Crowding in Three-Dimensional Hosts

Christy, Andrew T. R.; Kusumaatmaja, Halim; Miller, Mark A.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.126.028002

Control of Superselectivity by Crowding in Three-Dimensional Hosts

Christy, Andrew T. R.; Kusumaatmaja, Halim; Miller, Mark A.

Authors

Andrew T. R. Christy

Professor Halim Kusumaatmaja halim.kusumaatmaja@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Dr Mark Miller m.a.miller@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Motivated by the fine compositional control observed in membraneless droplet organelles in cells, we investigate how a sharp binding-unbinding transition can occur between multivalent client molecules and receptors embedded in a porous three-dimensional structure. In contrast to similar superselective binding previously observed at surfaces, we have identified that a key effect in a three-dimensional environment is that the presence of inert crowding agents can significantly enhance or even introduce superselectivity. In essence, molecular crowding initially suppresses binding via an entropic penalty, but the clients can then more easily form many bonds simultaneously. We demonstrate the robustness of the superselective behavior with respect to client valency, linker length, and binding interactions in Monte Carlo simulations of an archetypal lattice polymer model.

Citation

Christy, A. T., Kusumaatmaja, H., & Miller, M. A. (2021). Control of Superselectivity by Crowding in Three-Dimensional Hosts. Physical Review Letters, 126(2), Article 028002. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.126.028002

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 9, 2020
Online Publication Date	Jan 11, 2021
Publication Date	Jan 15, 2021
Deposit Date	Jan 18, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Jan 18, 2021
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Print ISSN	0031-9007
Electronic ISSN	1079-7114
Publisher	American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	126
Issue	2
Article Number	028002
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.126.028002

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Copyright Statement
Reprinted with permission from the American Physical Society: Christy, Andrew T. R., Kusumaatmaja, Halim & Miller, Mark A. (2021). Control of Superselectivity by Crowding in Three-Dimensional Hosts. Physical Review Letters 126(2): 028002 © 2021 by the American Physical Society. Readers may view, browse, and/or download material for temporary copying purposes only, provided these uses are for noncommercial personal purposes. Except as provided by law, this material may not be further reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, adapted, performed, displayed, published, or sold in whole or part, without prior written permission from the American Physical Society.