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Updated: May 29, 2026

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Confinement causes opposite effects on the folding transition of a single polymer chain depending on its stiffness
Yuji Higuchi1, Kenichi Yoshikawa, Takafumi Iwaki
1Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
Abstract:
We investigated the folding transition between an elongated coil state and a compact state on a single polymer chain confined in a small space with different stiffness with the aid of Monte Carlo simulation. In a flexible polymer, the folding transition is retarded in a confined space. In contrast, the transition is promoted for a semiflexible chain, in which the discontinuity of the volume change occupied by a single chain is diminished by confinement. This unique confinement effect is interpreted in terms of conformational entropy and self-avoiding repulsive interaction.
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