LAUSR

Significance Some classes of biological motors like the Sec61 complex or the bacterial type IV pilus can achieve directional transport of biomolecules through nanopores, according to an out-of-equilibrium process called translocation ratchet, which biases thermal fluctuation toward a preferential direction. Despite its biological relevance, this process has never been reproduced into an artificial system. In this frame, we developed an artificial translocation ratchet at nanoscale, able to perform directional transport of DNA molecules through synthetic nanopores. We quantified the effect of both geometrical and kinetic parameters of this system on its ability to enhance the DNA transport and found the length of the DNA to be the main parameter likely to change the ratcheting effect; specifically, we observed a minimal length to trigger the ratchet mechanism that has never been described before.