Surface tension and super-stoichiometric surface enrichment in two-component biomolecular condensates. Author Andrew Pyo, Yaojun Zhang, Ned Wingreen Publication Year 2022 Type Journal Article Abstract Cells can achieve internal organization by exploiting liquid-liquid phase separation to form biomolecular condensates. Here we focus on the surface properties of condensates composed of two multivalent associative polymers held together by one-to-one "sticker" bonds. Using coarse-grained molecular-dynamics simulations, we study the influence of component stoichiometry on condensate surface properties. We find that unequal stoichiometry results in enrichment of the majority species at the interface and a sharp reduction of surface tension. To relate these two effects, we show that the reduction in surface tension scales linearly with the excess concentration of free binding sites at the interface. Our results imply that each excess free site contributes an approximately fixed additional energy and entropy to the interface, with the latter dominating such that enrichment of free majority sites lowers the surface tension. Our work provides insight into novel physical mechanisms by which cells can regulate condensate surface properties. Journal iScience Volume 25 Issue 2 Pages 103852 Date Published 2022 Feb 18 ISSN Number 2589-0042 DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103852 Alternate Journal iScience PMCID PMC8851291 PMID 35198903 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML