title: Nanoscale transport enables active self-assembly of millimeter-scale wires.
abstract: Active self-assembly processes exploit an energy source to accelerate the movement of building blocks and intermediate structures and modify their interactions. A model system is the assembly of biotinylated microtubules partially coated with streptavidin into linear bundles as they glide on a surface coated with kinesin motor proteins. By tuning the assembly conditions, microtubule bundles with near millimeter length are created, demonstrating that active self-assembly is beneficial if components are too large for diffusive self-assembly but too small for robotic assembly.
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors: Ofer
authors: O
authors: Idan
authors: Amy
authors: A
authors: Lam
authors: Jovan
authors: J
authors: Kamcev
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Gonzales
authors: Ashutosh
authors: A
authors: Agarwal
authors: Henry
authors: H
authors: Hess
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances