Polymer translocation

 Content: General Premise  Biological contexts  Single-molecule experiments  Nomenclature  Entropic barrier idea  Physics of translocation  Outlook   Size, Shape, and Structure of Macromolecules  Measures of polymer conformations  Universal behavior  Excluded volume interaction  Coarse-grained models of chain connectivity  Chain swelling by excluded volume effect  Coil-globule transition  Concentration effects  Summary   Electrolyte Solutions, Interfaces, and Geometric Objects  Electrolyte solutions  Charged interfaces  Summary   Flexible and Semiflexible Polyelectrolytes  Concepts  Experimental results  Simulation results  Electrostatic swelling with fixed polymer charge  Self-regularization of polymer charge  Concentration effects  Summary   Confinement, Entropic Barrier, and Free Energy Landscape  Hole in a wall  Spherical cavities  Cylindrical pores  Infinitely wide channels  Summary   Random Walks, Brownian Motion, and Drift  Biased random walk  Brownian motion and Langevin equation  Fokker-Planck-Smoluchowski equation  Collection of Brownian particles  Equilibrium versus steady state  Finite boundaries and first passage time  Properties of drift-diffusion process  Summary   Polyelectrolyte Dynamics  Solvent continuum and hydrodynamic interaction  Uncharged polymer  Diffusion of polyelectrolyte chains  Electrophoretic mobility  Coil-stretch under flow  Summary   Ion Flow in Single Pores  A general scenario  Equilibrium  Steady state without diffusion  Steady state with drift and diffusion  Effect of barriers  Ionic current through protein pores  Fluctuations in ionic current  Electroosmotic flow (EOF)  Summary   Polymer Capture  Representative experimental results  General considerations  Diffusion-limited capture  Drift-limited regime  Effect of convective flow  Polymer capture with electroosmotic flow  Effect of barriers on capture rate  Summary   Translocation Kinetics: Nucleation and Threading  Representative experimental results  Insights from simulations  Theory of translocation kinetics  Comparison between experimental data and theory  Summary   Further Issues  Non-equilibrium conformations during threading  Amplification of chemical details  Biological examples  Summary