{
  "abstract": "Biomolecular condensates formed by intrinsically disordered proteins require molecular models that accurately describe proteins in both dilute solution and condensed phases. Explicit-solvent coarse-grained models offer an attractive balance between chemical resolution and computational efficiency. Yet, it remains unclear whether improving dilute-state properties is sufficient to obtain an accurate description of condensates. Here, we address this question by introducing minimal modifications to the Martini 3 force field that combine recent advances in bonded interactions with refined protein-water interactions and strengthened glycine self-interactions, while preserving the underlying chemical transferability of the model. The resulting model substantially improves the description of single-chain conformations across a diverse benchmark of disordered proteins. We then investigate phase separation of the well-characterized low-complexity domain of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 and its sequence variants. The model reproduces several key physicochemical properties of biomolecular condensates, including chain expansion in the dense phase, sequence-dependent intermolecular contacts, protein diffusion and its relation to single-chain dimensions, and hydration, while revealing quantitative limitations in condensate density, phase equilibria, and ion partitioning. Our results show that improving dilute-state behaviour translates into a better description of condensed-phase properties, including condensate density, but is not sufficient to quantitatively reproduce the equilibrium between the dilute and dense phases.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Fran Bačić Toplek"
    },
    {
      "name": "Luis Borges-Araujo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kresten Lindorff-Larsen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ralf Everaers"
    },
    {
      "name": "Paulo C T Souza"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tatiana I Morozova"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9y22s49cyd0y.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.08.27.747511",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "e9y22s49cyd0y",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05787670v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.chim"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "0.info"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "0.phys"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sdv"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "1.chim.theo"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "1.info.info-mo"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "1.phys.cond"
    ],
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      "hal",
      "1.sdv.bbm"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "2.phys.cond.cm-scm"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "2.sdv.bbm.bs"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Protein Structure and Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7204694729",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05787670/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-08-29",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9y22s49cyd0y.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:51Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05787670",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05787670v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "hal:2.sdv.bbm.bs",
      "subfield": "structural-biology"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "hal:0.sdv",
      "subfield": "general"
    },
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "hal:1.chim.theo",
      "subfield": "theoretical"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "hal:1.phys.cond",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Towards transferable explicit-solvent coarse-grained models for biomolecular condensates",
  "title_text": "Towards transferable explicit-solvent coarse-grained models for biomolecular condensates",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:51Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9y22s49cyd0y",
  "venue": "HAL",
  "versions": []
}