Seminar Announcement – Lars Hubatsch
Speaker: Dr. Lars Hubatsch, Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics Dresden
Title: “Transport Kinetics Across Phase Boundaries”
Date: Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Time: 12:00
Room: Left Auditorium, CRTD, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden
Host: Research Training Group Biomolecular Condensates (RTG 3120)
Abstract: Biomolecular condensates organize intracellular chemistry, but to do so they must exchange molecules across their boundaries. I will discuss our theoretical and experimental work on the kinetics of transport across interfaces in phase-separated systems. We developed a non-equilibrium thermodynamic description of both interface motion and molecular exchange, linking single-molecule behavior to bulk transport. In the thin-interface limit, breaking local equilibrium generates an interfacial transport resistance, and I will give a physical picture for where this resistance comes from. Finally, I will present recent experiments in reconstituted condensates that support the existence of interface resistance and show how it can be measured, with direct consequences for exchange kinetics and therefore potential functions.
