Light-activated microtubule-based two-dimensional active nematic
We assess the ability of two light responsive kinesin motor clusters to drive dynamics of microtubule-based active nematics: opto-K401, a processive motor, and opto-K365, a non-processive motor. Measurements reveal an order of magnitude improvement in the contrast of nematic flow speeds between maxi...
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Published in | Soft matter Vol. 19; no. 35 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Royal Society of Chemistry
23.08.2023
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Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | We assess the ability of two light responsive kinesin motor clusters to drive dynamics of microtubule-based active nematics: opto-K401, a processive motor, and opto-K365, a non-processive motor. Measurements reveal an order of magnitude improvement in the contrast of nematic flow speeds between maximally- and minimally-illuminated states for opto-K365 motors when compared to opto-K401 construct. For opto-K365 nematics, we characterize both the steady-state flow and defect density as a function of applied light. We also examine the transient behavior as the system switches between steady-states upon changes in light intensities. Although nematic flows reach a steady state within tens of seconds, the defect density exhibits transient behavior for up to 10 minutes, showing a separation between small-scale active flows and system-scale structural states. Furthermore, our work establishes an experimental platform that can exploit spatiotemporally-heterogeneous patterns of activity to generate targeted dynamical states. |
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Bibliography: | SC0022291 USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) |
ISSN: | 1744-683X |