Diffusion of Macromolecules across the Nuclear Pore Complex

Abstract

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are very selective filters that monitor the transport between the cytoplasm and the nucleoplasm. Two models have been suggested for the plug of the NPC. They are (i) it is a reversible hydrogel or (ii) it is a polymer brush. We propose a mesoscopic model for the transport of a protein through the plug, that is general enough to cover both. The protein stretches the plug and creates a local deformation. The bubble so created (prtoein+deformation) executes random walk in the plug. We find that for faster relaxation of the gel, the diffusion of the bubble is greater. Further, on using parameters appropriate for the brush, we find that the diffusion coefficient is much lower. Hence the gel model seems to be more likely explanation for the workings of the plug.

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Cited by in corpus (5)

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• Deformation propagation in responsive polymer network films
• Dynamics of a spherical self-propelled tracer in a polymeric medium: interplay of self-propulsion, stickiness, and crowding
• Field-driven tracer diffusion through curved bottlenecks: Fine structure of first passage events
• DNA Unzipping Transition