Application of Poly(amidoamine) Dendrimers for Use in Bionanomotor Systems

Abstract

The study and utilization of bionanomotors represents a rapid and progressing field of nanobiotechnology. Here, we demonstrate that poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers are capable of supporting heavy meromyosin dependent actin motility of similar quality to that observed using nitrocellulose, and that microcontact printing of PAMAM dendrimers can be exploited to produce tracks of active myosin motors leading to the restricted motion of actin filaments across a patterned surface. These data suggest that the use of dendrimer surfaces will increase the applicability of using protein biomolecular motors for nanotechnological applications.

Translational actomyosin research: fundamental insights and applications hand in hand

“…The relationship between velocity and contact angle was however, different in a study (Kolli et al 2010) comparing motility on nitrocellulose (contact angle ~87°), microcontact printed poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (contact angle ~47°) and 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (~68°). Here, no motility was found on the silanized surface but similar motility was observed on nitrocellulose and the dendrimer, in spite of widely varying contact angles.…”

“…Particularly for high contact angles (>70°) the effects on velocity show appreciable variability. Whereas Nicolau et al (2007) found a decrease in velocity for contact angles >70°, Kolli et al (2010) obtained high-quality motility on nitrocellulose with contact angle >80°. In our studies (unpublished) we have observed reduced velocity in occasional experiments with more extensive silanization and a contact angle beyond 80°.…”

“…Guiding of HMM propelled actin filaments to certain regions on a chip along nano- or microscale channels/tracks have been achieved using either topographically (Byun et al 2009; Mahanivong et al 2002; Sundberg et al 2006b) or chemically (Kolli et al 2010; Manandhar et al 2005; Nicolau et al 1999; Sundberg et al 2006b; Suzuki et al 1995, 1997) defined track/channels or a combination of these strategies (Bunk et al 2003, 2005a, b; Byun et al 2007; Jaber et al 2003; Sundberg et al 2006b). One way (Bunk et al 2005b; Sundberg et al 2006b) of implementing the combined strategy was by combining hydrophobic/hydrophilic chemical patterning with the formation of effective topographical barriers in the form of partly roofed channels (“inverted T-channels”; Fig.…”

Transport of single cells using an actin bundle–myosin bionanomotor transport system

“…The use of nanomotors to power the transport of synthetic components is a current goal of several nanoengineering research areas, as this approach may allow for the controlled transport of single molecules in the absence of bulk flow [2][3][4][5][6]. Indeed, recent studies have reported the use of catalytic-metallic [7][8][9], microtubule-kinesin [10][11][12][13][14] and actin-myosin motor systems [15][16][17][18] for nanotransport applications, while other work has also suggested that these biomachines may also be useful for the development of new types of nano-communication where the information signal is propagated under the power of nanomotors [19].…”

“…Efforts towards developing nanomotor-based cargo transport systems have thus far largely centered on controlling the directional movement of the motors themselves or the direction of filament movement through the use of topographical tracks [9,11,16], hydrophobic/hydrophilic surface patterning [17] and chemical modification of the substrate by microcontact printing [18]. To date, most of the work in this area has utilized the microtubulekinesin motor system [10][11][12][13][14].…”