title: Controlling the direction of kinesin-driven microtubule movements along microlithographic tracks.
abstract: Motor proteins are able to move protein filaments in vitro. However, useful work cannot be extracted from the existing in vitro systems because filament motions are in random directions on two-dimensional surfaces. We succeeded in restricting kinesin-driven movements of microtubules along linear tracks by using micrometer-scaled grooves lithographically fabricated on glass surfaces. We also accomplished the extraction of unidirectional movement from the bidirectional movements along the linear tracks by adding arrowhead patterns on the tracks. These "rectifiers" enabled us to construct microminiturized circulators in which populations of microtubules rotated in one direction, and to actively transport microtubules between two pools connected by arrowheaded tracks in the fields of micrometer scales.
authors.affiliation: Gene Discovery Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiratsuka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oiwa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanayama
authors.forename: T Q
authors.initials: TQ
authors.lastname: Uyeda
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000818:Animals; D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D001921:Brain; D002417:Cattle; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D005898:Glass; D006801:Humans; D016547:Kinesins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009068:Movement; D012399:Rotation
chemical_list: D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; D016547:Kinesins; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate