R. Bundschuh and U. Gerland, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 (2005) 208104/1-208104/4
The translocation of structured RNA or DNA molecules through narrow pores necessitates the opening of all base-pairs. Here, we study the interplay between the dynamics of translocation and base-pairing theoretically, using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and analytical methods. We find that (i) the formation of non-native basepairs can significantly speed up translocation, and (ii) the crossover between slow and fast translocation can be described by a simple phenomenological model.