AVS 52nd International Symposium
    Nanometer-Scale Science and Technology Monday Sessions
       Session NS2-MoA

Paper NS2-MoA9
Self-Assembly Activated by Molecular Motors

Monday, October 31, 2005, 4:40 pm, Room 210

Session: Nanometer Scale Assembly
Presenter: H. Hess, University of Florida
Authors: H. Hess, University of Florida
J. Clemmens, University of Washington
C. Brunner, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
R. Doot, University of Washington
S. Luna, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
K.-H. Ernst, EMPA Duebendorf, Switzerland
V. Vogel, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Correspondent: Click to Email
In molecular self-assembly, the transport of the interacting parts is typically diffusive, and thermal forces prevent the mismatched assembly of non-complementary parts. This situation has serious disadvantages: Diffusive transport slows as building blocks become larger, thermal forces are distributed over a wide range which is difficult to adjust, and thermal forces strain even correctly assembled connections. Active transport on a molecular scale, for example powered by biomolecular motors, can overcome these disadvantages and provide strong, tunable, and directed forces which facilitate the ordered assembly of supramolecular structures. Furthermore, the assembled structures can be under internal strain and internally ordered without representing a minimum energy configuration. As a consequence of the transport properties of the system a high degree of long-range order can emerge. We experimentally demonstrated such a self-assembly system relying on active transport of functionalized microtubules by kinesin motor proteins.@footnote 1@ @FootnoteText@footnote 1@ Hess, H.; Clemmens, J.; Brunner, C.; Doot, R.; Luna, S.; Ernst, K.-H.; Vogel, V., Molecular self-assembly of "Nanowires" and "Nanospools" using active transport. Nano Letters 2005, 5, (4), 629-633.