Direct imaging of aligned neurofilament networks assembled using in situ dialysis in microchannels.
We report a technique to produce aligned neurofilament networks for direct imaging and diffraction studies using in situ dialysis in a microfluidic device. The alignment is achieved by assembling neurofilaments from protein subunits confined within microchannels. Resulting network structure was probed by polarized optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy, which confirmed a high degree of protein alignment inside the microchannels. This technique can be expanded to facilitate structural studies of a wide range of filamentous proteins and their hierarchical assemblies under varying assembly conditions.
Hesse
H C
HC
Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
Beck
R
R
Ding
C
C
Jones
J B
JB
Deek
J
J
MacDonald
N C
NC
Li
Y
Y
Safinya
C R
CR
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003956:Dialysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D008832:Microchemistry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry*