Protein Linear Molecular Motor‐Powered Nanodevices

Abstract

Myosin-actin and kinesin-microtubule linear protein motor systems and their application in hybrid nanodevices are reviewed. Research during the past several decades has provided a wealth of understanding about the fundamentals of protein motors that continues to be pursued. It has also laid the foundations for a new branch of investigation that considers the application of these motors as key functional elements in laboratory-on-a-chip and other micro/nanodevices. Current models of myosin and kinesin motors are introduced and the effects of motility assay parameters, including temperature, toxicity, and in particular, surface effects on motor protein operation, are discussed. These parameters set the boundaries for gliding and bead motility assays. The review describes recent developments in assay motility confinement and unidirectional control, using micro-and nano-fabricated structures, surface patterning, microfluidic flow, electromagnetic fields, and self-assembled actin filament/microtubule tracks. Current protein motor assays are primitive devices, and the developments in governing control can lead to promising applications such as sensing, nano-mechanical drivers, and biocomputation.

Polymer surface properties control the function of heavy meromyosin in dynamic nanodevices

“…While the "gliding geometry" motility assay has been used extensively in fundamental studies of molecular motor function (Holzbaur and Goldman 2010), from an applications perspective, their planar architecture and the ability of motor proteins to transport nano-scale cargo at speeds that are orders of magnitude higher than those associated with molecular diffusion, (Nitta and Hess 2005) are very attractive features for dynamic nanodevices (Bakewell and Nicolau 2007;Fulga et al 2009;Kinbara and Aida 2005) Consequently, proof-of-concept motor-powered nanodevices have been proposed for biosensing, Martinez-Neira et al 2005;Van Zalinge et al 2012) biodiagnostics, (Fischer et al 2009;Korten et al 2010) transport at nano-, (Bull et al 2005) and micro-scale, (Limberis and Stewart 2000), microfluidic pumping (Bull et al 2005) and recently biocomputation. (Nicolau et al 2016) Because the manufacturing of these devices must use materials that are both suitable for micro/nanofabrication, and also preserve the motor bioactivity, various materials have been assessed, e.g., methacrylate polymers, (Nicolau et al 1999;Riveline et al 1998;Suzuki et al 1997) polyurethane, (Clemmens et al 2003a) plasma polymerized poly(ethylene oxide), (Clemmens et al 2003b) polyelectrolytes, (Jaber et al 2003) commercial photoresists, (Bunk et al 2003a;Bunk et al 2003b;Clemmens et al 2004;Hiratsuka et al 2001;Moorjani et al 2003) and silane-functionalized surfaces.…”

Transportation of Nanoscale Cargoes by Myosin Propelled Actin Filaments

“…is executed by molecular motors [1], [2] such as kinesins and dyneins, walking along tracks of microtubules and myosins walking along actin filaments. This has inspired development of molecular motor driven lab-on-a-chip devices [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] with cargo pick-up and transportation [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. Possible applications include periodic chemistry [18], [19], assembly of molecular components [20], [21], [22], sorting, positioning and/or concentration [20], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27] of molecules.…”

Engineering Applications of Biomolecular Motors

“…This review aims to complement recent reviews (14)(15)(16)(17)(18). It is structured to provide first an overview of fundamental problems relevant to the design and application of biomolecular motors, second, a perspective on potential applications of molecular motor-enabled systems, and finally, a short review of the technical advances in the field.…”