[Labile behavior of gels and possible biological implications]

Abstract

Gelated networks of biopolymers submitted to thermal cycles may undergo phase-transitions and phase-separations, and their cryobehavior is chiefly associated with such phenomena. The properties unveiled with models on a macroscopic scale may have implications in the cryobehavior of living systems while the lability of biopolymer gels under the influence of other external conditions may be involved in a number of biological functions.