Biomolecular motors in nanoscale materials, devices, and systems

Abstract

Biomolecular motors are a unique class of intracellular proteins that are fundamental to a considerable number of physiological functions such as DNA replication, organelle trafficking, and cell division. The efficient transformation of chemical energy into useful work by these proteins provides strong motivation for their utilization as nanoscale actuators in ex vivo, meso- and macro-scale hybrid systems. Biomolecular motors involved in cytoskeletal transport are quite attractive models within this context due to their ability to direct the transport of nano-/micro-scale objects at rates significantly greater than diffusion, and in the absence of bulk fluid flow. As in living organisms, biomolecular motors involved in cytoskeletal transport (i.e., kinesin, dynein, and myosin) function outside of their native environment to dissipatively self-assemble biological, biomimetic, and hybrid nanostructures that exhibit nonequilibrium behaviors such as self-healing. These systems also provide nanofluidic transport function in hybrid nanodevices where target analytes are actively captured, sorted, and transported for autonomous sensing and analytical applications. Moving forward, the implementation of biomolecular motors will continue to enable a wide range of unique functionalities that are presently limited to living systems, and support the development of nanoscale systems for addressing critical engineering challenges.

Nanoscale Engineering of Designer Cellulosomes

“…We conclude this brief survey of biocatalysts with a description of the kinesin motor proteins [46] that "walk" along microtubules found in the cytoplasm of cells. [47] They serve as a striking example of directed motion along a scaffold and share common features with the cellulosome, for example in targeting a specific substrate to a scaffold composed of a host of repeat units with defined architecture.…”

Mechanical splitting of microtubules into protofilament bundles by surface-bound kinesin-1

“…For instance, photosynthetic reaction centers and light-powered proton pump proteins have been used for energy harvesting4, while motor proteins (e.g., myosin) have been used to transport analytes and reagents in microassays56. In particular, the active transport system consisting of kinesin motors and microtubule (MT) filaments has been reconstituted ex vivo to provide transport in a range of applications including active assembly of nanocomposites, analyte separation in bio-assays, and performing molecular computation578. In the majority of these systems, surface-adhered kinesin-1 proteins are used to propel MTs above the surface in an inverted gliding assay format, as shown in Fig.…”

The Preparation and the Release Properties of Nanometer Titanium Dioxide

“…R eCeNTly, nanoscale materials have been widely used in many fields including photo catalysis, gas sensing, solar cells and fuel cells owing to its advantages such as electronic, optical properties and unique structure [1][2]. As a member of nanomaterials, nanostructured titanium dioxide (Tio 2 ) which has large surface area with a wide band gap, offers tunable crystal structure (rutile, anatase, brookite) [3][4].…”