A coil-globule transition of a semiflexible polymer driven by the addition of spherical particles

TL;DR

This paper investigates how spherical particles induce a coil-globule transition in a semiflexible polymer through depletion attraction, providing insights into macromolecular crowding effects such as DNA condensation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that large spherical particles cause a continuous coil-globule transition in a semiflexible polymer via depletion interactions.

Findings

Depletion attraction induces coil-globule transition

Transition is continuous and driven by particle size

Reveals effects relevant to DNA condensation

Abstract

The phase behaviour of a single large semiflexible polymer immersed in a suspension of spherical particles is studied. All interactions are simple excluded volume interactions and the diameter of the spherical particles is an order of magnitude larger than the diameter of the polymer. The spherical particles induce a quite long ranged depletion attraction between the segments of the polymer and this induces a continuous coil-globule transition in the polymer. This behaviour gives an indication of the condensing effect of macromolecular crowding on DNA.