Polymer Release out of a Spherical Vesicle through a Pore

Abstract

Translocation of a polymer out of curved surface or membrane is studied via mean first passage time approach. Membrane curvature gives rise to a constraint on polymer conformation, which effectively drives the polymer to the outside of membrane where the available volume of polymer conformational fluctuation is larger. Considering a polymer release out of spherical vesicle, polymer translocation time $\tau$ is changed to the scaling behavior $\tau \sim L^2$ for $R<R_G$, from $\tau \sim L^3$ for $R\gg R_G$, where $L$ is the polymer contour length and $R$, $R_G$ are vesicle radius and polymer radius of gyration respectively. Also the polymer capture into a spherical budd is studied and possible apparatus for easy capture is suggested.

14 pages RevTeX, 6 postscript figures, published in Phys. Rev. E 57, 730 (1998)