title: Microchannel systems in titanium and silicon for structural and mechanical studies of aligned protein self-assemblies.
abstract: We report a technique for the alignment of self-assembled protein systems, such as F-actin bundles and microtubules, in a surface-modified titanium or silicon microfluidic device. Assembling filamentous protein systems in a confined geometry produces highly aligned samples for structural and mechanical studies. Biomolecular self-assembly can be investigated in a controlled fashion under different molecular concentration gradients and conditions along a channel length. We have shown that surface-modified devices produced via a high aspect ratio etch process in titanium and silicon can be used to confine and control such macromolecular assemblies and present examples of F-actin bundles and microtubules in this system.
authors.affiliation: Materials Department, Physics Department and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Hirst
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abu-Samah
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pynn
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Safinya
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D008832:Microchemistry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D014025:Titanium; D012825:Silicon