Membraneless liquid compartments based on phase-separating biopolymers have been observed in diverse cell types and attributed to weak multivalent interactions predominantly based on intrinsically disordered domains. The design of liquid-liquid phase separated (LLPS) condensates based on de novo designed tunable modules that interact in a well-understood, controllable manner could improve our understanding of this phenomenon and enable the introduction of new features. Here we report the construction of CC-LLPS in mammalian cells, based on designed coiled-coil (CC) dimer-forming modules, where the stability of CC pairs, their number, linkers, and sequential arrangement govern the transition between diffuse, liquid and immobile condensates and are corroborated by coarse-grained molecular simulations. Through modular design, we achieve multiple coexisting condensates, chemical regulation of LLPS, condensate fusion, formation from either one or two polypeptide components or LLPS regulation by a third polypeptide chain. These findings provide further insights into the principles underlying LLPS formation and a design platform for controlling biological processes.

In this work, a theoretical model describing the interaction between a positivelyor negatively charged nanoparticle and neutral zwitterionic lipid bilayers is presented. It isshown that in the close vicinity of the positively charged nanoparticle, the zwitterionic lipidheadgroups are less extended in the direction perpendicular to the membrane surface, whilein the vicinity of the negatively charged nanoparticle, the headgroups are more extended.This result coincides with the calculated increase in the osmotic pressure between the zwitterionic lipid surface and positively charged nanoparticle and the decrease of osmoticpressure between the zwitterionic lipid surface and the negatively charged nanoparticle.Our theoretical predictions agree well with the experimentally determined fluidity of alipid bilayer membrane in contact with positively or negatively charged nanoparticles. Theprospective significance of the present work is mainly to contribute to better understandingof the interactions of charged nanoparticles with a zwitterionic lipid bilayer, which may beimportant in the efficient design of the lipid/nanoparticle nanostructures (like liposomes withencapsulated nanoparticles), which have diverse biomedical applications, including targetedtherapy (drug delivery) and imaging of cancer cells.

The construction and building sector is responsible for a large share of energy and material used during the life cycle of a building. It is therefore crucial to apply a circular economy model within the process wherever possible to minimize the impact on the environment. In this paper, the possibility of producing thermal and acoustic boards from industrial nonwoven waste textile is studied and presented. The nonwoven polyester textile obtained directly from the production line in the form of strips and bales was first shredded into smaller fractions and then in the form of pile compressed with a hot press to form compact thermal insulation boards. The first set of specimens was prepared only from waste polyester nonwoven textile, whereas the second set was treated with sodium silicate in order to check the material’s reaction to fire performance. The experimental work was conducted to define the acoustic properties, reaction to fire behavior and thermal conductivity of the produced specimens. The obtained results show that the thermal conductivity coefficient of specimens without added water glass dissolution is near to the values of conventional materials used as thermal insulation in buildings. The reaction to fire testing proved that the addition of water glass actually propagates the progressive flame over the entire product. It can be concluded that the presented thermal insulation can be used as an adequate and sustainable solution for building construction purposes.