GEL-ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY OF CHARGED-PARTICLES IN A MEDIUM WITH CURVED CHANNELS

A model of electrophoretic mobility of small charged particles (for ex ample short DNA fragments) in media with curved channels is proposed. The medium is represented by a dense material embedding the curved cha nnels accessible to the charged particles. The steady flow method is u sed to obtain an analytical expression of the particles' electrophoret ic mobility as a function of the channel's shape. The analogy between the statistical properties of the channels and polymer chains (free-jo inted and with the persistent mobility mechanism) is used.