Effect of hydrodynamic interaction on polymeric tethers

Weak bonds are ubiquitous in biological structures. They often act as adhesive contacts within an extended structure, for example, the internal bonds in a folded protein or a DNA/RNA loop. They also act as linkers between two structures, for example, a protein grafted in a cell membrane or a protein linking the cell membranes of two neighboring cells. Typically, the breakage of a bond depends on the strength of the binding potential and viscosity of the medium. But when extended structures couple to the bond, as in the above examples, the dynamics of the structure also has to be considered in order to understand the bond breakage phenomenon. Here we consider a generic model, a stretched polymer (an extended structure) tethered to a soft bond and study how the dynamics of the polymer, in addition to thermal noise, influences bond breakage. We also explore how the hydrodynamic interaction due to the fluid medium, which couples the distant parts of the polymer, change the bond breakage rate. We find that hydrodynamic interaction enhances the breakage rate and also makes the motion of the unstable collective mode of the polymer more coherent.