Study on the roles of internal and external factors in active self-organization of biomolecular motor

我们开发了一种通过主动自组织将生物分子马达系统、微管和动力蛋白整合成组装结构的方法。在这里，我们研究了内部和外部因素在微管主动自组织中的作用。研究发现：1)微管的晶格结构是控制环状微管旋转运动的关键因素；2)空气与缓冲液交界面等界面对微管的形态和组织有显著影响；3)外部扰动，如拉伸刺激，可以调节微管的形态，从而形成具有特定取向的高度有序结构。

We have developed a method to integrate biomolecular motors system, microtubule and kinesin, into assembled structures through active self-organization. Here, we examined the roles of internal and external factors in active self-organization of microtubule. We found that 1) lattice structure of microtubule is a key factor by tuning which the rotational motion of ring-shaped microtubule assembly could be controlled, 2) interface such as boundary between air and buffer has a pronounced effect on the morphology and organization of microtubule and 3) external perturbation, e.g., stretching stimuli can be employed to regulate the morphology of microtubule assemblies which in turn resulted in highly ordered structure with a specific orientation.