Mikko Haataja

About

Mikko P. Haataja is a professor associated with the Haataja Group, which focuses on Computational Materials and Biophysics at Princeton University. The group conducts research in the fields of materials science and biophysics, applying computational methods to understand complex biological and material systems. As a faculty member, Mikko Haataja contributes to advancing knowledge in these interdisciplinary areas, mentoring students and leading research initiatives within the group.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemistry
• Composite material
• Physics
• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Chemical physics
• Mechanics
• Biophysics

Selected publications

• Nucleation landscape of biomolecular condensates

  Nature · 2021 · 211 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Liquid demixing in elastic networks: Cavitation, permeation, or size selection?

  EPL (Europhysics Letters) · 2022 · 44 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract In cells, phase-separated liquid condensates interact mechanically with surrounding elastic networks such as chromatin and cytoskeleton. By considering the trade-offs between elastic, wetting, and interfacial energies, we theoretically show that three droplet phases can be thermodynamically stable: macroscopic droplets that either cavitate or permeate the network, and mesh-size–limited microdroplets. We show that network strain stiffening further enhances this latter size-limitation eff…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Liquid–liquid phase separation within fibrillar networks

  Nature Communications · 2023 · 31 citations

  Complex fibrillar networks mediate liquid-liquid phase separation of biomolecular condensates within the cell. Mechanical interactions between these condensates and the surrounding networks are increasingly implicated in the physiology of the condensates and yet, the physical principles underlying phase separation within intracellular media remain poorly understood. Here, we elucidate the dynamics and mechanics of liquid-liquid phase separation within fibrillar networks by condensing oil droplet…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nucleation and Growth of Amyloid Fibrils

  The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · 2023-11-07 · 27 citations

  articleOpen access

  The formation of amyloid fibrils is a complex phenomenon that remains poorly understood at the atomic scale. Herein, we perform extended unbiased all-atom simulations in explicit solvent of a short amphipathic peptide to shed light on the three mechanisms accounting for fibril formation, namely, nucleation via primary and secondary mechanisms, and fibril growth. We find that primary nucleation takes place via the formation of an intermediate state made of two laminated β-sheets oriented perpendi…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evolution of Polymer Colloid Structure During Precipitation and Phase Separation

  JACS Au · 2021-06-03 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  Polymer colloids arise in a variety of contexts ranging from synthetic to natural systems. The structure of polymeric colloids is crucial to their function and application. Hence, understanding the mechanism of structure formation in polymer colloids is important to enabling advances in their production and subsequent use as enabling materials in new technologies. Here, we demonstrate how the specific pathway from precipitation to vitrification dictates the resulting morphology of colloids fabri…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• REU Site: EMERGE: Energy, Materials and the Environment: Researchers Gaining Experience

  NSF · $320k · 2012–2015

• CAREER: Computational Studies of Elastic and Dislocation Effects on Microstructure Formation

  NSF · $400k · 2005–2010

• Fluctuating Lipid Membranes: Structure, Non-equilibrium Dynamics, and Coupling to Membrane Proteins

  NSF · $270k · 2010–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Tapio Ala-Nissilä

  49 shared

• Andrej Košmrlj

  Princeton University

  33 shared

• Maria Sammalkorpi

  Research Council of Finland

  31 shared

• David J. Srolovitz

  Chinese University of Hong Kong

  21 shared

• Mikko Karttunen

  21 shared

• Sheng Mao

  Peking University

  20 shared

• Derek Kuldinow

  Stanford University

  17 shared

• N. Provatas

  Google (United States)

  13 shared

Labs

• Haataja GroupPI

  Computational Materials and Biophysics at Princeton University

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