Microtubule shuttles on kinesin-coated glass micro-wire tracks

Biomed Microdevices. 2014 Aug;16(4):501-8. doi: 10.1007/s10544-014-9852-6.

Abstract

Gliding of microtubule filaments on surfaces coated with the motor protein kinesin has potential applications for nano-scale devices. The ability to guide the gliding direction in three dimensions allows the fabrication of tracks of arbitrary geometry in space. Here, we achieve this by using kinesin-coated glass wires of micrometer diameter range. Unlike previous methods in which the guiding tracks are fixed on flat two-dimensional surfaces, the flexibility of glass wires in shape and size facilitates building in-vitro devices that have deformable tracks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Glass / chemistry*
  • Kinesins / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Microtubules / chemistry*

Substances

  • Kinesins