Biomimetic Nanotechnology by Anja Mueller

Author:Anja Mueller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2018-03-14T04:00:00+00:00

2.4Summary and the Bigger Picture

Human movement on the molecular scale works by the stiff “head” of a molecular motor moving along a fiber as if it were a street. The head movement is fueled by ATP, and controlled by fast concentration changes of ions inside and outside of the muscle cell that contains the walking head. The duration and the strength of muscle contraction can also be controlled in this system.

Motor proteins and their corresponding fiber “streets” have been used extensively in nanotechnology research. It is now possible to automatize the assembly of such systems, as well as to control the direction of several cargo “trucks” moving at the same time. It is still difficult to load the motor protein or truck, however. In addition, the problems of large-scale and long-duration movement have not yet been solved.

Fig. 2.8: Controlled movement of a ring of a rotaxane in a specific direction (adapted from [24]). Fig. 2.9: A rotaxane containing two rings (adapted from [25]). Fig. 2.10: The movement of the two rings on the rotaxane in 2.9 is detected by the deflection of the AFM cantilever [25]. (a) Initial cycles, (b) after 20 cycles. Fig. 2.11: Linear movement with a pseudo-rotaxane dimer (adapted from [26]). It is even more difficult to mimic motor-movement with other molecules. The only, rather short, “street” that has been shown to give directional, planned movement is the length of a rotaxane-type molecule. Only a few nanometers of movement is possible in these systems. It is also difficult to load cargo onto the ring of a rotaxane.

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