POLYMER RELEASE OUT OF A SPHERICAL VESICLE THROUGH A PORE

Translocation of a polymer out of a curved surface or membrane is stud ied via the mean first passage time approach. Membrane curvature gives rise to a constraint on polymer conformation, which effectively drive s the polymer to the outside of confinement, where the available volum e of the polymer conformational fluctuation is larger. Considering a p olymer release out of a spherical vesicle, the polymer translocation t ime tau is changed to the scaling behavior tau similar to L-2 for R<R- G, from tau similar to L-3 for R much greater than R-G, where L is the polymer contour length, and R and R-G are the vesicle radius and poly mer radius of gyration, respectively. Also, the polymer capture into a spherical bud is studied, and a possible apparatus for easy capture i s suggested.