Nano Express
Combing and self-assembly phenomena in dry films of Taxol-stabilized microtubules
1 LIMMS-CNRS/IIS, UMI 2820, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan
2 Materials Sciences Division, L. Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road - Mailstop 66RO200, Building 66, Office 212, Lab 210, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
3 L2MP, Institut Supérieur d’Electronique et du Numérique Maison des Technologies, Pl. G. Pompidou, Toulon, 83000, France
4 IIS, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan
Nanoscale Research Letters 2007, 2:135-143 doi:10.1007/s11671-007-9044-x
Published: 13 March 2007Abstract
Microtubules are filamentous proteins that act as a substrate for the translocation of motor proteins. As such, they may be envisioned as a scaffold for the self-assembly of functional materials and devices. Physisorption, self-assembly and combing are here investigated as a potential prelude to microtubule-templated self-assembly. Dense films of self-assembled microtubules were successfully produced, as well as patterns of both dendritic and non-dendritic bundles of microtubules. They are presented in the present paper and the mechanism of their formation is discussed.
