Understanding the Guiding of Kinesin/Microtubule-Based Microtransporters in Microfabricated Tracks

Microtransporters using cargo-laden microtubules propelled by kinesin motors are attractive for numerous applications in nanotechnology. To improve the efficiency of transport, the movement of microtubules must be guided by microfabricated tracks. However, the mechanisms of the guiding methods used...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLangmuir Vol. 30; no. 40; pp. 12089 - 12096
Main Authors Ishigure, Yuki, Nitta, Takahiro
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Chemical Society 14.10.2014
Subjects
Biological Transport
Computer Simulation
Humans
Kinesin - chemistry
Microtechnology - methods
Microtubules - chemistry
Models, Statistical
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Summary:Microtransporters using cargo-laden microtubules propelled by kinesin motors are attractive for numerous applications in nanotechnology. To improve the efficiency of transport, the movement of microtubules must be guided by microfabricated tracks. However, the mechanisms of the guiding methods used are not fully understood. Here, using computer simulation, we systematically studied the guiding of such microtransporters by three different types of guiding methods: a chemical boundary, a physical barrier, and their combination. The simulation reproduced the probabilities of guiding previously observed experimentally for the three methods. Moreover, the simulation provided further insight into the mechanisms of guiding, which overturn previous assumptions and models.
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ISSN:0743-7463
1520-5827
DOI:10.1021/la5021884