Driven translocation of a flexible polymer through an interacting conical pore

TL;DR

This study investigates how a flexible polymer translocates through an interacting conical pore under external force, revealing non-monotonic residence time behavior influenced by pore geometry and interactions, supported by simulations and free energy analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a combined simulation and theoretical approach to understand the effects of pore geometry and interactions on polymer translocation times.

Findings

Mean residence time varies non-monotonically with pore apex angle.

External force and pore-polymer interactions significantly influence translocation dynamics.

Theoretical free energy analysis explains simulation results.

Abstract

We study the driven translocation of a flexible polymer through an interacting conical pore using Langevin dynamics simulations. We find that, for a fixed value of externally applied force and pore polymer interaction strength, the mean residence time of monomers inside the pore shows non-monotonic variations with pore apex angle $\alpha$. We explain this behavior using a free energy argument by explicitly accounting for pore-polymer interactions and external drive. Our theoretical observations are corroborated by the simulation results of the mean translocation times as the pore-polymer interactions and external driving force are varied.