First lab-on-chip devices based on active transport by biomolecular motors have been demonstrated for basic detection and sorting applications. However, to fully employ the advantages of such hybrid nanotechnology, versatile spatial and temporal control mechanisms are required. Using a thermo-responsive polymer, we demonstrated a temperature controlled gate that either allows or disallows the passing of microtubules through a topographically defined channel. The gate is addressed by a narrow gold wire, which acts as a local heating element. It is shown that the electrical current flowing through a narrow gold channel can control the local temperature and as a result the conformation of the polymer. This is the first demonstration of a spatially addressable gate for microtubule motility which is a key element of nanodevices based on biomolecular motors.

The efficiency of dynamic nanodevices using surface-immobilized protein molecular motors, which have been proposed for diagnostics, drug discovery, and biocomputation, critically depends on the ability to precisely control the motion of motor-propelled, individual cytoskeletal filaments transporting cargo to designated locations. The efficiency of these devices also critically depends on the proper function of the propelling motors, which is controlled by their interaction with the surfaces they are immobilized on. Here we use a microfluidic device to study how the motion of the motile elements, i.e., actin filaments propelled by heavy mero-myosin (HMM) motor fragments immobilized on various surfaces, is altered by the application of electrical loads generated by an external electric field with strengths ranging from 0 to 8 kVm(-1). Because the motility is intimately linked to the function of surface-immobilized motors, the study also showed how the adsorption properties of HMM on various surfaces, such as nitrocellulose (NC), trimethylclorosilane (TMCS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (PtBMA), and poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA), can be characterized using an external field. It was found that at an electric field of 5 kVm(-1) the force exerted on the filaments is sufficient to overcome the frictionlike resistive force of the inactive motors. It was also found that the effect of assisting electric fields on the relative increase in the sliding velocity was markedly higher for the TMCS-derivatized surface than for all other polymer-based surfaces. An explanation of this behavior, based on the molecular rigidity of the TMCS-on-glass surfaces as opposed to the flexibility of the polymer-based ones, is considered. To this end, the proposed microfluidic device could be used to select appropriate surfaces for future lab-on-a-chip applications as illustrated here for the almost ideal TMCS surface. Furthermore, the proposed methodology can be used to gain fundamental insights into the functioning of protein molecular motors, such as the force exerted by the motors under different operational conditions.

We investigated the difference in electrically guided acto-myosin motility on two surfaces. Rabbit skeletal muscle heavy meromyosin (HMM) was absorbed onto surfaces coated with Nitrocellulose (NC) and Poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA). A modified in vitro motility assay with sealed chambers for the insertion of electrodes allowed an electrical field to be applied across the flow cell. On all surfaces a small increase in velocity and general guidance of the actin filaments towards the positive electrode is seen at field strengths in the range of ~3000 -4000Vm -1 . A large increase in velocity was observed at ~5000Vm -1 and a significant change in the velocity of the actin filaments present in field strengths higher than this. NC supported the highest percentage of motile filaments and at a field of 8000Vm -1 reached ~66%. PBMA however supported the least percentage of motile filaments and irregular motility was observed even at higher fields where guidance was expected to be strong. The change in velocity in the range of fields tested varied significantly on the surfaces with NC displaying a 46% increase from 0 to 8000Vm -1 whereas on PBMA this value was just 37%.

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