Eur. Phys. J. E (2010) 33: 251-258
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2010-10663-6

Regular Article

Cooperative translocation dynamics of biopolymer chains through nanopores in a membrane: Slow dynamics limit

¹ College of Chemistry and Environment Science, Hebei University, 071002, Baoding, China
² International Centre for Materials Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 110016, Shenyang, China
³ Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Diagnosis, Ministry of Education, Hebei University, 071002, Baoding, China
⁴ College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, 071002, Baoding, China

^* e-mail: whj@mail.hbu.cn

Received: 11 February 2010
Revised: 11 July 2010
Accepted: 27 September 2010
Published online: 31 October 2010

Abstract

The cooperative translocation dynamics of two complementary single-stranded DNA chains through two nanopores located in a membrane is investigated theoretically. The translocation process is considered to be quasi-equilibrium, and then under the limit of slow dynamics the average translocation times are numerically presented under different conditions. It is shown that the effects of the chemical potential gradient, the recombination energy and the distance between the two nanopores on the cooperative translocation are significant. The present model predicts that the cooperative translocation of such two chains can shorten the translocation time, reduce the backward motion and thus improve the translocation efficiency.