Formation of nematic liquid crystalline phase of F-actin varies from continuous to biphasic transition

Details Formation of nematic liquid crystalline phase of F-actin varies from continuous to biphasic transition Formation of nematic liquid crystalline phase of F-actin varies from continuous to biphasic transition

2005-06-30

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0506813v1

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

4 pages, 4 figures

Scientific paper

We show that the isotropic to nematic liquid crystalline phase transition of F-actin can be either continuous or discontinuous, depending critically on the filament length. For F-actin with average filament length > 3 um, we confirm that the transition is continuous in both filament alignment and local concentration. In contrast, for filament length < 2 um the F-actin solution undergoes a first order transition. Tactoidal droplets of co-existing isotropic and nematic domains were observed. Phenomena of nucleation-and-growth and spinodal decomposition both occur, depending sensitively on the exact concentration and average filament length of F-actin. In the late stage, the tactoidal droplets continually grow and occasionally coalesce to form larger granules.

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