Effects Of The Shape Of Crowders On The Dynamics Of A Polymer Chain Closure

Using 3D Langevin dynamics simulations we investigate the effects of the shape of crowders on the dynamics of a polymer chain closure.We show that the chain closure in spherical crowders is dominated by the increased medium viscosity so that it gets slower with the increasing volume fraction of crowders φ.By contrast,the dynamics of chain closure becomes very complicated with increasing 0 in spherocylindrical crowders.Notably,the mean closure time τc is found to have a dramatic decrease at a range of φ = 0.36-0.44.We then elucidate that an isotropic to nematic transition of spherocylindrical crowders at this range of φ is responsible for the unexpected dramatic decrease in τc.Our results here provide a deeper understanding about the loop formation of biopolymers in the crowded cellular environments.