title: Passage times for unbiased polymer translocation through a narrow pore.
abstract: We study the translocation process of a polymer in the absence of external fields for various pore diameters b and membrane thickness L. The polymer performs Rouse and reptation dynamics. The mean translocation time (tau(t)) that the polymer needs to escape from a cell and the mean dwell time (tau(d)) that the polymer spends in the pore during the translocation process obey scaling relations in terms of the polymer length N, L, and b/R(g), where R(g) is the radius of gyration for the polymer. We explain these relations using simple arguments based on polymer dynamics and the equilibrium properties of polymers.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universiteit Utrecht, Minnaertgebouw, Leuvenlaan 4, Postbus 80.195, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joanne Klein
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wolterink
authors.forename: Gerard T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Barkema
authors.forename: Debabrata
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panja
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008566:Membranes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers