Active self-organization of microtubules in an inert chamber system

Abstract

Microtubule-kinesin system is considered as a building block for the construction of artificial biomachines, and active self-organization of microtubules has been used to integrate their structural organization and achieve amplified functions similar to those observed in natural systems. However, the short lifetime of assembled structures has limited their use in organized systems. In the present study, we demonstrated that the use of an inert atmosphere in the self-organization of microtubules allows the assembled structures to remain active for a prolonged period of time (10 times longer). The longer lifetime achieved in the present study will facilitate the development of assembled microtubules for designing biomolecular motor-based efficient artificial biomachines with prolonged lifetimes. © 2012 The Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPSJ) All rights reserved.