Conformations of confined biopolymers

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive theoretical analysis of how biopolymer conformations are affected by nanoscale confinement, revealing different scaling regimes based on stiffness and confinement strength.

Contribution

It introduces a combined approach of scaling, analytical, and simulation methods to characterize biopolymer shapes under confinement, identifying key regimes and master curves.

Findings

Identification of distinct scaling regimes for confined biopolymers

Development of master curves relating conformation to stiffness and confinement

Validation of theoretical predictions with Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract

Nanoscale and microscale confinement of biopolymers naturally occurs in cells and has been recently achieved in artificial structures designed for nanotechnological applications. Here, we present an extensive theoretical investigation of the conformations and shape of a biopolymer with varying stiffness confined to a narrow channel. Combining scaling arguments, analytical calculations, and Monte Carlo simulations, we identify various scaling regimes where master curves quantify the functional dependence of the polymer conformations on the chain stiffness and strength of confinement.