[Soft-matter] Soft Matter & Complex Systems Seminar on 12 Dec 2025

[Maciej Lisicki]

Dear Soft Matter & Complex Systems Colleagues and Friends,

On Friday 12 December 2025 at 9:30 AM at the UW Faculty of Physics (Pasteura 5, Warsaw; room 1.40) we are hosting a seminar, during which 

Anna Niedźwiecka (Laboratory of Biological Physics, Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland)

will give a talk
From protein disorder to liquid-liquid phase separation and biomineral order

Abstract

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are a class of biomolecules whose conformational flexibility is essential for key biological processes. Highly charged polyanionic proteins, in particular, are responsible for the regulation of biomineralisation by living organisms. We have proposed a physical framework that links the hydrodynamic and electrostatic properties of intrinsically disordered, acid-rich proteins with their function in biomineralisation, whereby the sequence-encoded charge distribution determines the hydrodynamic dimensions and flexibility of the protein chain, the local binding affinity regulates condensation behaviour, and liquid condensates that form in crowded conditions provide microenvironments that control mineral nucleation, growth, and edge development. This cascade: from protein structural disorder, through hydrodynamic behaviour and electrostatic collapse, to the formation of phase-separated liquid precursors of solid phases—represents a universal mechanism by which soft, dynamic biomolecular systems can control the formation of solid-state materials.

We warmly welcome everyone to attend the talk and the Soft Matter Coffee Break after the seminar, held in room 2.63 (2nd floor).

Maria Ekiel-Jeżewska
Maciej Lisicki
Piotr Szymczak
Panagiotis Theodorakis
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