On June 20th, we welcomed our guest speaker, Professor Matthias Ballauf. Affiliated to Freie Universität Berlin, Prof. Ballauff is no stranger to Mainz, having been a student at Mainz University. It was wonderful to see some of his former collaborators join the talk on “Polyelectrolytes and Biological Systems: A Charged Relationship.” During his presentation, Prof. Ballauff reviewed the interactions between proteins and polyelectrolytes. He highlighted the importance of natural polyelectrolytes like DNA and Heparin, which play crucial roles in biology. To understand these systems and the charge-charge interactions is one of the primary objectives of biophysics. His research indicates that attractive forces between charged polymer segments and protein surface patches arise from asymmetrical interactions, primarily driven by counterion release. This process leads to an increase in entropy, stabilizing the complex. Additionally, he noted that increased salt concentration decreases this attraction by screening the charges and weakening the interaction. In his more recent research, involving synthetic linear polyelectrolytes and bovine serum albumin (BSA), Prof. Ballauff further analyzed the binding interactions. He found that the binding free energy could be divided into components related to counterion release and water release. Prof. Ballauff highlighted that this quantitative understanding, achieved through analytical models, is essential for advancing the understanding of these interactions in biomedical applications, such as drug delivery and protein stabilization. 

After the talk, Prof. Ballauff interacted with the network, visited several of the group leaders and
later joined his collaborators and SFB1551 students for dinner. It was a true pleasure to welcome
Prof. Ballauff back in Mainz.