title: Quantized biopolymer translocation through nanopores: departure from simple scaling.
abstract: We discuss multiscale simulations of long biopolymer translocation through wide nanopores that can accommodate multiple polymer strands. The simulations provide clear evidence of folding quantization, namely the translocation proceeds through multifolded configurations characterized by a well-defined integer number of folds. As a consequence, the translocation time acquires a dependence on the average folding number, which results in a deviation from the single-exponent power law characterizing single-file translocation through narrow pores. The mechanism of folding quantization allows polymers above a threshold length (approximately 1000 persistence lengths for double-stranded DNA) to exhibit cooperative behavior, and as a result to translocate noticeably faster.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 17 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Melchionna
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernaschi
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fyta
authors.forename: Efthimios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaxiras
authors.forename: Sauro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Succi
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D036103:Nanotechnology; D016062:Porosity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers