The Backfolded Odijk Regime for Wormlike Chains Confined in Rectangular Nanochannels

Polymers

卷:8

Abhiram Muralidhar¹  Michael J. Quevillon¹  Kevin D. Dorfman¹ 

[1] Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota — Twin Cities, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA;

关键词: DNA;    confinement;    genome mapping;    nanochannels;    Flory theory;    backfolding;    hairpin;    Odijk;    rectangular channels;    semiflexible polymers;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym8030079

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

We confirm Odijk’s scaling laws for (i) the average chain extension; (ii) the variance about the average extension; and (iii) the confinement free energy of a wormlike chain confined in a rectangular nanochannel smaller than its chain persistence length through pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) simulations of asymptotically long, discrete wormlike chains. In the course of this analysis, we also computed the global persistence length of ideal wormlike chains for the modestly rectangular channels that are used in many experimental systems. The results are relevant to genomic mapping systems that confine DNA in channel sizes around 50 nm, since fabrication constraints generally lead to rectangular cross-sections.

【 授权许可】

Unknown