Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), lack of a well-defined folded structure, have been recently shown to be critical to forming membrane-less organelles via liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). Due to the flexible conformations of IDPs, it could be challenging to investigate IDPs with solely experimental techniques. Computational models can therefore provide complementary views at several aspects, including the fundamental physics underlying LLPS and the sequence determinants contributing to LLPS. In this presentation, I will start with our coarse-grained computational framework that can help generate sequence dependent phase diagrams. The coarse-grained model further led to the development of a polymer model with empirical parameters to quickly predict LLPS of IDPs. At last, I will show our preliminary efforts on addressing molecular interactions within LLPS of IDPs using all-atom explicit-solvent simulations.

The “soft, active, and living matter” community has grown tremendously in recent years, conducting exciting research at the interface between soft matter and biological systems. But are all living systems also soft matter systems? Do the ideas of function (or purpose) in biological systems require us to introduce deep new ideas into the framework of soft matter theories? Does the (often) qualitatively different character of data in biological experiments require us to change the types of experiments we conduct and the goals of our theoretical treatments? Eight speakers will anchor the workshop, exploring these questions across a range of biological system scales. Each speaker will deliver a 10-minute talk with another 10 minutes set aside for moderated questions/discussion. We expect the talks to be broad, bold, and provocative, discussing both the nature of the theoretical tools and experimental techniques we have at present and also those we think we will ultimately need to answer deep questions at the interface of soft matter and biology.