Shapes of semiflexible polymers in confined spaces.
Biological macromolecules, living in the confines of a cell, often adopt conformations that are unlikely to occur in free space. In this paper, we investigate the effects of confinement on the shape of a semiflexible chain. Results of Monte Carlo simulations show the existence of a shape transition when the persistence length of the polymer becomes comparable to the dimensions of the box. An order parameter is introduced to quantify this behavior. A simple model is constructed to study the effect of the shape transition on the effective persistence length of the polymer.
Martin Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University, Mailstop 057, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, USA.
Ya
Y
Liu
Bulbul
B
Chakraborty
D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
D011108:Polymers; D004247:DNA