title: Entropic depletion of DNA in triangular nanochannels.
abstract: Using Monte Carlo simulations of a touching-bead model of double-stranded DNA, we show that DNA extension is enhanced in isosceles triangular nanochannels (relative to a circular nanochannel of the same effective size) due to entropic depletion in the channel corners. The extent of the enhanced extension depends non-monotonically on both the accessible area of the nanochannel and the apex angle of the triangle. We also develop a metric to quantify the extent of entropic depletion, thereby collapsing the extension data for circular, square, and various triangular nanochannels onto a single master curve for channel sizes in the transition between the Odijk and de Gennes regimes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Wesley F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Reinhart
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Tree
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Dorfman