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DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Semiflexible ring polymers on active motor beds: Nonequilibrium dynamics and conformations
Sandip Roy1,2, Abhishek Chaudhuri1, Anil Kumar Dasanna1
1Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, Knowledge City, Sector 81, SAS Nagar, Mohali 140306, Punjab, India.
Abstract:
A semiflexible ring polymer on a motor-protein bed exhibits activity- and processivity-dependent rotational and conformational dynamics that are not captured by linear-chain behavior. Using coarse-grained Langevin simulations with bending elasticity, excluded-volume interactions, and stochastic motor attachment, stepping, and detachment, we vary activity (Péclet number), motor processivity, and chain stiffness to map the nonequilibrium response. The mean-squared displacement shows crossover dynamics, with semiflexible rings displaying subdiffusive-to-diffusive behavior at low activity and an intermediate ballistic regime at higher activity, while increasing flexibility shifts the short-time response toward a Rouse-like limit. Diameter autocorrelations exhibit damped oscillations associated with coherent rotation; the rotational frequency increases with activity and processivity, whereas the decorrelation time is nonmonotonic at high processivity. Fourier mode analysis identifies competition between the radius (k = 0) and elliptic (k = 2) modes as the origin of the nonmonotonic asphericity.
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