Polymer translocation in an environment of active rods

TL;DR

This study uses simulations to show that active rods can facilitate polymer translocation through a nanopore, with the process influenced by rod density and resulting in folded polymer structures.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of how active rods affect polymer translocation, highlighting the role of rod density and structural changes in the process.

Findings

Active rods facilitate translocation even with initial monomer imbalance.

Rod density influences success probability, showing a facilitation-crowding competition.

Translocating polymers tend to fold due to active rod interactions.

Abstract

We consider the dynamics of a translocation process of a flexible linear polymer through a nanopore into an environment of active rods in the {\it trans} side. Using Langevin dynamics simulations we find that the rods facilitate translocation to the {\it trans} side even when there are initially more monomers on the {\it cis} than on the {\it trans} side. Structural analysis of the translocating polymer reveals that active rods induce a folded structure to the {\it trans}-side subchain in the case of successful translocation events. By keeping the initial number of monomers on the {\it cis}-side subchain fixed, we map out a state diagram for successful events as a function of the rod number density for a variety of system parameters. This reveals competition between facilitation by the rods at low densities and crowding that hinders translocation at higher densities.