Driven polymer transport through a nanopore controlled by a rotating electric field: off-lattice computer simulations

The driven translocation kinetics of a single strand polynucleotide chain through a nanopore is studied using off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations, by which the authors demonstrate a novel method in controlling the driven polymer transport through a nanopore by a rotating electric field. The recorded time series of blockade current from the driven polynucleotide transport are used to determine the sequence of polynucleotides by implementing a modified Monte Carlo algorithm, in which the energy landscape paving technique is incorporated to avoid trapping at deep local minima. It is found that only six-time series of block current are required to completely determine the polynucleotide sequence if the average missing rate (AMR) of current signals in these time series is smaller than 20%. For those time series with AMR greater than 20%, the error rate in sequencing an unknown polynucleotide decreases rapidly by increasing the number of time series. To find the most appropriate experimental conditions, the authors have investigated the dependence of AMR of current signals and qualified rate of measured time series of blockade current on various controllable experimental variables.