Polymer translocation under a pulling force: scaling arguments and threshold forces

TL;DR

This paper investigates polymer translocation under pulling forces, proposing scaling laws and analyzing how pore size and polymer structure influence translocation times through extensive simulations.

Contribution

It introduces scaling arguments for translocation times under pulling forces and examines effects of pore size and polymer structure, extending previous models.

Findings

Translocation time scales as τ ∼ N^2 F^{-1} for moderate forces.

Pore size and polymer structuration significantly affect translocation times.

Simulation data supports extended scaling laws for polymer translocation.

Abstract

DNA translocation through nanopores is one of the most promising strategies for the next-generation sequencing technologies. Most part of experimental and numerical works has focused on polymer translocation biased by electrophoresis, where a pulling force acts on the polymer within the nanopore. An alternative strategy however is emerging, which uses optical or magnetic tweezers. In this case, the pulling force is exerted directly at one end of the polymer, which strongly modifies the translocation process. In this paper, we report numerical simulations of both linear and structured (mimicking DNA) polymer models, simple enough to allow for a statistical treatment of the pore structure effects on the translocation time probability distributions. Based on extremely extended computer simulation data, we : i) propose scaling arguments for an extension of the predicted translocation times $\tau \sim N^{2}F^{-1}$ over the moderate forces range; ii) analyze the effect of pore size and polymer structuration on translocation times $\tau$.