Langevin dynamics simulations of ds-DNA translocation through synthetic nanopores

We have implemented a coarse-grained model to study voltage-driven as-DNA translocation through nanopores located in synthetic membranes. The simulated trajectory of the DNA through the nanopores was calculated using Langevin dynamics. We present the results based on more than 120,000 individual translocations. We are particularly interested in this work in probing the physical basis of various experimentally observed--yet poorly understood--phenomena. Notably, we observe in our simulations the formation of ds-DNA hairpins, widely suspected to be the basis for quantized blockage. We study the translocation time, a measurable quantity crucially important in polyelectrolyte characterization, as a function of hairpin vertex location along the polymer backbone, finding that this behavior can be tuned to some degree by simulation parameters. We also study the voltage dependence of the tendency of hairpins to serve as the initiators of translocation events. Surprisingly, we find that the resulting probability depends vitally upon whether the events counted are ultimately successful or not. Further details lead us to propose that failed attempts in experimental translocation studies may be more common--and deceptive--than is generally recognized. We find the time taken by successful single file translocations to be directly proportional to the ratio of chain length to the applied voltage. Finally, we address a common yet puzzling phenomenon in translocation experiments: translocation events in which the current through the pore is highly, yet incompletely, blocked. We present the findings that offer a new explanation for such events.