Protein Translocation through an Electrically Tunable Membrane

Understanding protein dynamics through an artificial nanopore has implications in many areas such as sensing and filtering. Collecting statistical information while tracking the movement of a full atomic protein model is computationally expensive since number of atoms ranges in the thousands. The need to represent protein with a computationally cost effective model is imperative, along with understanding its dynamics through the nanopore. In this work we studied the dynamics of the protein insulin placed near a nanopore of an electrically tunable semiconductor membrane. Using Brownian dynamics method we calculated the trajectory of the modeled protein in the electrolyte-membrane electrostatic potential. The time spent by the protein before a successful translocation and the translocation times were both analyzed. Our results indicate that the localized electric field within the nanopore affects the movement of the protein. Also, by comparing the results of the full atomic protein model with a coarse grained model and a single bead model, we evaluate which model best approximates the full atomic protein model.