Optimal target search on a fast-folding polymer chain with volume exchange

Phys Rev Lett. 2005 Dec 31;95(26):260603. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.260603. Epub 2005 Dec 22.

Abstract

We study the search process of a target on a rapidly folding polymer ("DNA") by an ensemble of particles ("proteins"), whose search combines 1D diffusion along the chain, Lévy type diffusion mediated by chain looping, and volume exchange. A rich behavior of the search process is obtained with respect to the physical parameters, in particular, for the optimal search.