(64c) Discrete Binding Ranges of Ligated Biopolymers End-Grafted to an Interface: a Theoretical Study

Ligands mounted to surfaces via flexible polymer tethers represent a growing class of molecules used to engineer adhesion in drug targeting, biosensing, and self-assembling nanostructures. We show that the probability of end-functionalized grafted polymers binding to an opposing receptor is a strong function of the distance between the receptor and polymer anchor for many of the biopolymers and ligand / receptor pairs used in current research. Importantly, we find that the binding probability with respect to distance approximates a step function when 3 kT / L(kW)^1/2