Channel confined kinesin-microtubule biomolecular nanomotors

Abstract

Kinesins are molecular motors that move along microtubules, and provide a model system for force generation that can be exploited for kinesin-powered nano- and micro-machines. Microtubules are /spl sim/25 nm diameter cylindrical polymers of the protein tubulin and can be nm to /spl mu/m long. Kinesins bind to microtubules and use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to walk unidirectionally along them at speeds of /spl sim/1 /spl mu/m/s. In this work, we reverse the typical biological system and move microtubules along surfaces functionalized with kinesin motors. The microtubules then become potential transport vehicles for sensors and lab-on-a-chip applications. A key requirement for extracting useful work from this system is confinement and control of the movement of microtubules over kinesin coated surfaces.