Rapid pH changes can trigger hollow vacuoles in associative condensates of pH-responsive biomolecules. Using a model enzyme–polymer system, how larger droplets and faster pH changes promote vacuole formation by creating unstable non-equilibrium compositions is shown. A physics-based model reproduces these observations, showing when and how vacuoles arise through spinodal decomposition.
- Nisha Modi
- Raghavendra Nimiwal
- Allie C. Obermeyer
