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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 15: Single-Molecule Biophysics I
BP 15.3: Talk
Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 11:00–11:15, ZEU 250
Folding quantization of a biopolymer translocating through nanopores based on multiscale simulations — •Maria Fyta1,2, Simone Melchionna1,3, Massimo Bernaschi4, Sauro Succi4,5, and Efthimios Kaxiras1,5 — 1Department of Physics and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA — 2Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany — 3INFM-SOFT, Department of Physics, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy — 4Istituto Applicazioni Calcolo, CNR, Rome, Italy — 5Initiative in Innovative Computing, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Our recently developed novel multiscale approach which concurrently couples a mesoscopic fluid solvent with molecular motion has been efficiently applied to the problem of biopolymer translocation through narrow and wide pores. Our results of up to 10$^4$ biopolymers provide valuable insight into the cooperation of the biopolymer and hydrodynamic motion. For wide pores, capable of hosting multiple polymer strands, there is clear evidence of folding quantization, leading to a deviation from the single-exponent power-law characterizing the single-file translocation through narrow pores. The translocation proceeds through multi-folded configurations, characterized by a well-defined integer number of folds. In this case, the translocation time acquires a dependence on the average value of the folding number, leading to a deviation from the single-exponent power-law characterizing the single-file translocation through narrow pores. We discuss some recent results when electrokinetic effects are also considered.