The use of chemical sequence plays a tremendous role in defining the properties of polymers and/or biomacromolecules by encoding information relevant to molecular structure and function. Our research is inspired by the prevalence and distribution of repeating sequences of charge on the behavior of intrinsically disordered proteins, increasing numbers of which have been shown to undergo functionally-relevant liquid-liquid phase separation <i>in vivo</i>. We examine the general phenomenon of liquid-liquid phase separation known as complex coacervation resulting from the interaction of oppositely-charged polypeptides in water to study how patterning of charge can affect phase separation and the resultant material properties. We combine direct characterization of phase behavior and isothermal titration calorimetry measurements of the thermodynamics of coacervation with computational modeling to establish the physical origins and critical role of entropy on the charge-driven interactions that drive coacervate phase behavior.

Sequence and entropy-based control of complex coacervation

254th National Meeting (2017)

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