Building on-chip cytoskeletal circuits via branched microtubule networks

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Zaferani, Meisam; Song, Ryungeun; Petry, Sabine; Stone, Howard A.
• 署名单位: Princeton University; Princeton University; Princeton University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-15437
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2315992121
• 发表日期: 2024-01-23
• 关键词: dynamic instability; motor proteins; in-vitro; kinesin; forces; nucleation; augmin; driven; ORGANIZATION; mechanism

摘要

Controllable platforms to engineer robust cytoskeletal scaffolds have the potential to create novel on-chip nanotechnologies. Inspired by axons, we combined the branching microtubule (MT) nucleation pathway with microfabrication to develop cytoskeletal circuits. This active matter platform allows control over the adaptive self-organization of uniformly polarized MT arrays via geometric features of microstructures designed within a microfluidic confinement. We build and characterize basic elements, including turns and divisions, as well as complex regulatory elements, such as biased division and MT diodes, to construct various MT architectures on a chip. Our platform could be used in diverse applications, ranging from efficient on-chip molecular transport to mechanical nano-actuators. Further, cytoskeletal circuits can serve as a tool to study how the physical environment contributes to MT architecture in living cells.