{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T16:16:51Z","timestamp":1778170611129,"version":"3.51.4"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]]},"group-title":"Biophysics","reference-count":71,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  The molecular behavior of viruses within respiratory aerosols plays a critical role in airborne disease transmission yet remains largely inaccessible to experimental characterization. Here, we use a billion-atom all-atom molecular dynamics simulation of a virus-laden respiratory aerosol to uncover how respiratory proteins, lipids, ions, and water collectively assemble around SARS-CoV-2, giving rise to structured microenvironments that influence viral stability and spike dynamics. We find that respiratory components rapidly evolve into heterogeneous networks characterized by protein-rich aggregates, patchy lipid assemblies, and spatially structured ion and water dynamics. These features create distinct microenvironments that constrain molecular transport and stabilize regions surrounding the virion. Within this crowded aerosol context, we observe sustained and selective interactions between aerosol components and the viral spike protein, including preferential recruitment of surfactant lipids and persistent coordination by divalent cations. These interactions modulate spike conformational dynamics, enhancing domain breathing motions and flexibility at key hinge regions while preserving a stable membrane anchor. Together, these observations reveal a condensate-like physical regime in which multivalent aerosol components coalesce into a soft, heterogeneous matrix that selectively modulates viral protein dynamics under extreme crowding. By framing virus-laden respiratory aerosols within this physical context, this work establishes an\n                  <jats:italic>in situ<\/jats:italic>\n                  molecular framework for understanding how aerosols influence viral persistence and offers a platform for exploring mechanisms relevant to airborne disease transmission and mitigation strategies.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>TOC Graphic<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:fig id=\"ufig1\" position=\"float\" orientation=\"portrait\" fig-type=\"figure\">\n                    <jats:graphic xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" xlink:href=\"721971v1_ufig1\" position=\"float\" orientation=\"portrait\"\/>\n                  <\/jats:fig>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Synopsis<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Respiratory aerosols exhibit condensate-like physical properties that govern the evolution of the particle and modulate the behavior of airborne SARS-CoV-2.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.04.30.721971","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T03:25:17Z","timestamp":1777951517000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Condensate-Like Organization in Respiratory Aerosols Modulates the Dynamics of an Airborne Virus"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1230-9166","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicholas A.","family":"Wauer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2681-8460","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carla","family":"Calv\u00f3-Tusell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4847-4136","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abigail C.","family":"Dommer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"},{"name":"Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3581-1148","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Casalino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5469-9035","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fiona L.","family":"Kearns","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"},{"name":"Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, 79104 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1373-2916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcelo","family":"Caparotta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"},{"name":"Instituto de Histolog\u00eda y Embriolog\u00eda de Mendoza (IHEM) \u2013 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y T\u00e9cnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8961-8231","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mia A.","family":"Rosenfeld","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"},{"name":"Iambic Therapeutics, 5627 Oberlin Drive, San Diego"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4314-5387","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clare K.","family":"Morris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9275-9553","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rommie E","family":"Amaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular 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