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Toward kinesin-powered microdevices

Loren Limberis and Russell J Stewart

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Kinesin motor proteins and the microtubule cytoskeleton function as an intracellular railroad system - a railroad with nanometre-scale engines running on nanometre-scale tracks. Our long-term objective is to take this molecular transport machinery and integrate it into kinesin-powered microdevices. As a step toward this objective, we have coupled kinesin to microscale silicon chips that were patterned photolithographically and etched from silicon membranes. The microchips were observed by light microscopy to move on microtubules aligned and immobilized on the surface of a microscope flowchamber. The microchips translated, rotated, and flipped over. From these examples of microchip movements, it is conceivable that this technology can be extended to moving more elaborate microparts, like gears, or rotors, or levers using kinesin motors. This will allow kinesin forces to be coupled to a useful action in a microdevice. For example, a microrotor turned by kinesin could demonstrate the feasibility of creating a kinesin-powered microgenerator or micropump.


PACS

87.16.Nn Motor proteins (myosin, kinesin dynein)

87.85.Lf Tissue engineering

87.85.Qr Nanotechnologies-design

87.16.Ka Filaments, microtubules, their networks, and supramolecular assemblies

85.85.+j Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) and devices

Subjects

Electronics and devices

Biological physics

Nanoscale science and low-D systems

Dates

Issue 2 (June 2000)

Received 16 November 1999



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