In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of molecular motors and cytoskeletal filaments in nanotechnological applications, particularly in the production of biomedical microdevices. In order for this to be possible it is important to exert a high level of control over the movement of the filaments. Chemical patterning techniques are often used to achieve this but these methods are often complex and the surface chemistry can be unstable. We investigated whether microfabricated silicon oxide lines of different widths with z-nanoscale heights of 20, 40 and 80 nm coated with heavy meromyosin (HMM) molecular motors could be used to control the motility of actin filaments by topographical means. Results demonstrated that filaments were confined by structures exceeding 20 nm in height regardless of the width of the channel indicating that topographical confinement offers a simple and possibly more cost-effective alternative to chemical patterning.
We investigated the difference in electrically guided acto-myosin motility on two surfaces. Rabbit skeletal
muscle heavy meromyosin (HMM) was absorbed onto surfaces coated with Nitrocellulose (NC) and
Poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA). A modified in vitro motility assay with sealed chambers for the insertion
of electrodes allowed an electrical field to be applied across the flow cell. On all surfaces a small increase in
velocity and general guidance of the actin filaments towards the positive electrode is seen at field strengths in
the range of ~3000 – 4000Vm-1. A large increase in velocity was observed at ~5000Vm-1 and a significant
change in the velocity of the actin filaments present in field strengths higher than this. NC supported the
highest percentage of motile filaments and at a field of 8000Vm-1 reached ~66%. PBMA however supported
the least percentage of motile filaments and irregular motility was observed even at higher fields where
guidance was expected to be strong. The change in velocity in the range of fields tested varied significantly on
the surfaces with NC displaying a 46% increase from 0 to 8000Vm-1 whereas on PBMA this value was just
37%.
Conference Committee Involvement (2)
Nanoscale Imaging, Sensing, and Actuation for Biomedical Applications XIII
16 February 2016 | San Francisco, California, United States
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