title: Enhancing the stability of kinesin motors for microscale transport applications.
abstract: Biomolecular motors, such as kinesins, have great potential for micro-actuation and micro- or nanoscale active transport when integrated into microscale devices. However, the stability and limited shelf life of these motor proteins and their associated protein filaments is a barrier to their implementation. Here we demonstrate that freeze-drying or critical point-drying kinesins adsorbed to glass surfaces extends their lifetime from days to more than four months. Further, photoresist deposition and removal can be carried out on these motor-adsorbed surfaces without loss of motor function. The methods developed here are an important step towards realizing the integration of biological motors into practical devices, and these approaches can be extended to patterning and preserving other proteins immobilized on surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Penn State University, 229 Hallowell Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Maruti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uppalapati
authors.forename: Ying-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Thomas Nelson
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: William Olaf
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Hancock
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry; D016547:Kinesins / Q000737:chemistry*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry*; D009038:Motion; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D016547:Kinesins