Translocation of soft phytoglycogen nanoparticles through solid-state nanochannels

Lenart, William R.; Kong, Weiwei; Oltjen, William C.; Hore, Michael J. A.

doi:10.1039/c9tb01048c

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Usually proteins can only translocate upon denaturation (not in their native state). Similarly, bulky ramified polymers [24,25], soft nanoparticles [26], vesicles [27] or associated micelles are sterically hindered [28] and either have to adopt energetically costly conformation or dissociate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Translocation, Rejection and Trapping of Polyampholytes

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Polyampholytes (PA) are a special class of polymers comprising both positive and negative monomers along their sequence. Most proteins have positive and negative residues and are PAs. Proteins have a well-defined sequence while synthetic PAs have a random charge sequence. We investigated the translocation behavior of random polyampholyte chains through a pore under the action of an electric field by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The simulations incorporated a realistic translocation potential profile along an extended asymmetric pore and translocation was studied for both directions of engagement. The study was conducted from the perspective of statistics for disordered systems. The translocation behavior (translocation vs. rejection) was recorded for all 220 sequences comprised of N = 20 charged monomers. The results were compared with those for 107 random sequences of N = 40 to better demonstrate asymptotic laws. At early times, rejection was mainly controlled by the charge sequence of the head part, but late translocation/rejection was governed by the escape from a trapped state over an antagonistic barrier built up along the sequence. The probability distribution of translocation times from all successful attempts revealed a power-law tail. At finite times, there was a population of trapped sequences that relaxed very slowly (logarithmically) with time. If a subensemble of sequences with prescribed net charge was considered the power-law decay was steeper for a more favorable net charge. Our findings were rationalized by theoretical arguments developed for long chains. We also provided operational criteria for the translocation behavior of a sequence, explaining the selection by the translocation process. From the perspective of protein translocation, our findings can help rationalize the behavior of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), which can be modeled as polyampholytes. Most IDP sequences have a strong net charge favoring translocation. Even for sequences with those large net charges, the translocation times remained very dispersed and the translocation was highly sequence-selective.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Translocation, Rejection and Trapping of Polyampholytes

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Experimental translocation measurements have successfully studied polymeric and inorganic spheres, rods, 41,44 cuboids, 45 vesicles [9][10][11][46][47][48][49] and virus-like particles. 20,29,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] In particular, it has been successful in characterizing the size, 6,9,13,15,20,21,26,27,29,32,[34][35][36]48,54,[57][58][59][60][61] surface charge 5,6,13,15,21,26,32,36,41,57,…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experimental translocation measurements have successfully studied polymeric and inorganic spheres, 6–44 rods, 41,44 cuboids, 45 vesicles 9–11,46–49 and virus-like particles. 20,29,50–58 In particular, it has been successful in characterizing the size, 6,9,13,15,20,21,26,27,29,32,34–36,48,54,57–61 surface charge 5,6,13,15,21,26,32,36,41,57,58,61 and concentration 32,33,35,54 of particles with submicrometer sizes. The stiffness of soft particles with these techniques has also been studied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining dynamic Monte Carlo with machine learning to study nanoparticle translocation

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This difficulty is shared with globular proteins and protein complexes. For synthetic polymers besides collapsed globules, bulky ramified polymers, soft nanoparticles, or associated micelles are sterically hindered and would have to adopt energetically costly conformation or dissociate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globular Polyampholytes: Structure and Translocation

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Polyampholytes (PAs) are polymers carrying electrical charges of both signs along their backbone. We consider synthetic PAs with a quenched random charge sequence. At low to moderate salt concentrations, PAs typically adopt pearl-necklace structures with collapsed globules linked by open strands. We study the structure of a PA as a function of its net charge by means of coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations and analytical theory. It is shown theoretically and evidenced by simulations that the free energy drives quenched random PAs toward states with (very) polydisperse pearls. The translocation of a (partially) globular PA, driven by an electric field through a narrow pore, usually starts from a chain end in a tailed configuration. In our simulations, about half of all the observed PA configurations are tailed. The vast majority of the sequences visits tailed configurations long enough to initiate translocation like for open PAs. A detailed description of the tail size distribution and tail structure is obtained, and the survival statistics of tails is explored. The consequences of the pearl-necklace structures, observed in the simulations, for the translocation are discussed. Translocation itself is not simulated in this contribution.

show abstract

Translocation of soft phytoglycogen nanoparticles through solid-state nanochannels

Abstract: Phytoglycogen nanoparticles are soft, naturally-derived nanomaterials with a highly uniform size near 35 nm.

Cited by 8 publications

References 20 publications

Translocation, Rejection and Trapping of Polyampholytes

Translocation, Rejection and Trapping of Polyampholytes

Combining dynamic Monte Carlo with machine learning to study nanoparticle translocation

Globular Polyampholytes: Structure and Translocation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About