Spatial Organization of Phase-separated DNA Droplets

Abstract

Many recent studies of liquid-liquid phase separation in biology focus on phase separation as a dynamic control mechanism for cellular function, but it can also result in complex mesoscopic structures. We primarily investigate a model system consisting of DNA nanostars: finite-valence, self-assembled particles that form micron-scale liquid droplets via a binodal phase transition. We demonstrate that, upon phase separation, nanostar droplets spontaneously form hyperuniform structures, a type of disordered material with `hidden order' that combines the long-range order of crystals with the short-range isotropy of liquids. We find that the hyperuniformity of the DNA droplets reflects near-equilibrium dynamics, where phase separation drives the organization of droplets that then relax toward equilibrium via droplet Brownian motion. We engineer a two-species system of immiscible DNA droplets and find two distinctly hyperuniform structures in the same sample, but with random cross-species droplet correlations, which rules out explanations that rely on droplet-droplet hydrodynamic interactions. In addition, we perform experiments on the electrostatic coacervation of peptides and nucleotides which exhibit hyperuniform structures indistinguishable from DNA nanostars, indicating the phenomenon generally applies to phase-separating systems that experience Brownian motion. Our work on near-equilibrium droplet assembly and structure provides a foundation to investigate droplet organizational mechanisms in driven/biological environments. This approach also provides a clear path to implement phase-separated droplet patterns as exotic optical or mechanical metamaterials, or as efficient biochemical reactors.