title: Selective assembly and alignment of actin filaments with desired polarity on solid substrates.
abstract: We report a new strategy to selectively assemble and align filamentous actin (F-actin) onto desired locations on a solid substrate with a specific structural polarity. In this strategy, biotinylated gelsolin caps the structural minus end of F-actin so that the F-actin binds onto a streptavidin pattern with a specific structural polarity. We also demonstrate that an electric field can be utilized to align bound F-actin along a desired direction. This can be one of the major technical breakthroughs toward the assembly of nanomechanical systems based on myosin biomotors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and MARTECH, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manandhar
authors.forename: Kyung-Eun
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: P Bryant
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.forename: Seunghun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001710:Biotin / Q000737:chemistry*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D001710:Biotin