Entropic release of a big sphere from a cylindrical vessel

[Display omitted] ► A great progress toward elucidating the mechanism of the multidrug efflux of TolC. ► The key factor is a time-dependent entropic force acting on a solute. ► It originates from the solvent-mediated interaction between the solute and TolC. ► The geometry of TolC is time dependent....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChemical physics letters Vol. 561-562; pp. 159 - 165
Main Authors Mishima, Hirokazu, Oshima, Hiraku, Yasuda, Satoshi, Amano, Ken-ichi, Kinoshita, Masahiro
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 13.03.2013
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Summary:[Display omitted] ► A great progress toward elucidating the mechanism of the multidrug efflux of TolC. ► The key factor is a time-dependent entropic force acting on a solute. ► It originates from the solvent-mediated interaction between the solute and TolC. ► The geometry of TolC is time dependent. Insertion and release of a solute into and from a cylindrical vessel comprising biopolymers is a fundamental function in biological systems. In earlier works, we reported that the solvent-entropy (SE) effect plays imperative roles for insertion. Here we show that release is also achievable by the SE effect: the solute can be moved from an entrance at one end of the vessel to an exit at the other end using a continuous variation of the vessel geometry. Since the SE effect is rather insensitive to the solute–solvent affinity, our result may provide a clue to the ‘multidrug efflux’ of TolC.
ISSN:0009-2614
1873-4448
DOI:10.1016/j.cplett.2013.01.045