AVS 51st International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Tuesday Sessions
       Session BI+NS-TuM

Paper BI+NS-TuM11
Analysis of Collision Events of Self-Propelled Biomolecular Shuttles Carrying Cargo

Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 11:40 am, Room 210D

Session: The Nano-Bio Interface
Presenter: B.C. Bunker, Sandia National Laboratories
Authors: B.C. Bunker, Sandia National Laboratories
A.K. Boal, Sandia National Laboratories
S.B. Rivera, Sandia National Laboratories
G.D. Bachand, Sandia National Laboratories
Correspondent: Click to Email
Collision events between cargo carrying biotinylated microtubules (MTs) laden with 0.56 mm diameter streptavidin coated polystyrene beads (SBs) while being transported across kinesin coated surfaces were observed. Six distinct actions resulted from such collisions: no interaction, SB transfer between MTs, one MT deforming as a result of the collision, co-joining of the two MTs through mutual attachment to the SB, the SB being dislodged from the MT, or one of the MTs being severed. Interactions were studied both as a function of percent biotin-tubulin used to prepare the MTs and temperature. While biotin percent was observed to have a negligible effect of the percent chance of the various outcomes, heating the system from 24ËsC to 30ËsC decreased the likelihood of a SB transfer event while increasing the rate of MT bending and dragging events. Two important factors are proposed to determine the outcome of these collisions: the geometry of the collision event and the nature of the binding site that the SB is originally attached to.