Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
J Phys Condens Matter. 2010 Nov 17;22(45):454130. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/22/45/454130. Epub 2010 Oct 29.
Transport through nano-channels plays an important role in many biological processes and industrial applications. Gaining insights into the functioning of biological transport processes and the design of man-made nano-devices requires an understanding of the basic physics of such transport. A simple exclusion process has proven to be very useful in explaining the properties of several artificial and biological nano-channels. It is particularly useful for modeling the influence of inter-particle interactions on transport characteristics. In this paper, we explore several models of the exclusion process using a mean field approach and computer simulations. We examine the effects of crowding inside the channel and in its immediate vicinity on the mean flux and the transport times of single molecules. Finally, we discuss the robustness of the theory's predictions with respect to the crucial characteristics of the hindered diffusion in nano-channels that need to be included in the model.
纳米通道中的输运在许多生物过程和工业应用中起着重要作用。深入了解生物输运过程的功能和人为纳米器件的设计需要理解这种输运的基本物理原理。简单的排斥过程已被证明在解释几种人工和生物纳米通道的特性方面非常有用。它特别有助于模拟颗粒间相互作用对输运特性的影响。在本文中，我们使用平均场方法和计算机模拟来探索几种排斥过程模型。我们研究了通道内部及其附近拥挤对单分子平均通量和输运时间的影响。最后，我们讨论了该理论的预测对纳米通道中受限扩散的关键特性的稳健性，这些特性需要在模型中加以考虑。
