Biomolecular Motors Operating in Engineered Environments

Diez, Stefan; Helenius, Jonne; Howard, Jonathon

doi:10.1002/3527602453.ch13

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Another biological system of note is the microtubule gliding assay, wherein motor proteins are adhered to a surface and propel microtubule protein filaments across the surface up to speeds of 1 μm/s. − The trajectories of gliding microtubules are ray-like and are relatively unaffected by thermal motion, having a persistence length of 100–500 μm . However, as we predict later, gliders with the aspect ratio of a microtubule will exhibit relatively little refraction compared to a disk or square.…”

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Ray Optics for Gliders

et al. 2022

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Control of self-propelled particles is central to the development of many microrobotic technologies, from dynamically reconfigurable materials to advanced lab-on-a-chip systems. However, there are few physical principles by which particle trajectories can be specified and can be used to generate a wide range of behaviors. Within the field of ray optics, a single principle for controlling the trajectory of light�Snell's law� yields an intuitive framework for engineering a broad range of devices, from microscopes to cameras and telescopes. Here we show that the motion of self-propelled particles gliding across a resistance discontinuity is governed by a variant of Snell's law, and develop a corresponding ray optics for gliders. Just as the ratio of refractive indexes sets the path of a light ray, the ratio of resistance coefficients is shown to determine the trajectories of gliders. The magnitude of refraction depends on the glider's shape, in particular its aspect ratio, which serves as an analogue to the wavelength of light. This enables the demixing of a polymorphic, many-shaped, beam of gliders into distinct monomorphic, single-shaped, beams through a friction prism. In turn, beams of monomorphic gliders can be focused by spherical and gradient friction lenses. Alternatively, the critical angle for total internal reflection can be used to create shape-selective glider traps. Overall our work suggests that furthering the analogy between light and microscopic gliders may be used for sorting, concentrating, and analyzing self-propelled particles.

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Ray Optics for Gliders

et al. 2022

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“…Although the interaction of motor proteins with filamentous structures in cells has been studied extensively, 27 its applicability to nanotechnological tasks has been explored only recently. [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] An intriguing feature of motor proteins, such as kinesin, is that they perform very precise nanometer steps in a highly controlled manner: for example, kinesin takes 8-nm steps along a microtubule, 37 each step coupled to the hydrolysis of one ATP molecule. 38 However, because the force produced by one kinesin molecule 27 (about 6 pN) is barely sufficient to stretch a λ-phage DNA molecule to its contour length 19 of 16.5 µm, many motors have to be used together.…”

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Stretching and Transporting DNA Molecules Using Motor Proteins

et al. 2003

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Inside cells, motor proteins perform a variety of complex tasks including the transport of vesicles and the separation of chromosomes. We demonstrate a novel use of such biological machines for the mechanical manipulation of nanostructures in a cell-free environment. Specifically, we show that purified kinesin motors in combination with chemically modified microtubules can transport and stretch individual λ-phage DNA molecules across a surface. This technique, in contrast to existing ones, enables the parallel yet individual manipulation of many molecules and may offer an efficient mechanism for assembling multidimensional DNA structures.

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“…Nevertheless, in real-life settings, there exist lots of self-propelled swimmers such as motor-molecules, micro-tubules and even active filaments. 19,20,38 Active entities are capable of taking up energy from their environment and converting it into directed motion, such that they exhibit exotic behaviors which are not found in passive systems. [39][40][41][42] For instance, self-propulsion of active particles allows more efficient exploration of the environment, leading to a superdiffusive mechanism.…”

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confidence: 99%