Nanokinematic Devices and Systems

P. Famouri (FBBG Lead), Hornak CSEE, Gannett, Pharmacy, Carroll, Holland, Timperman, Chemistry, Wu MAE, B. Li, Ortho, Eric Blough, Marshall, Kazuhiro Kohama, Gunma University, Japan

Objective

• Establishing protein-based biomolecular motors for electronically addressable nanoscale molecular cargo delivery systems to serve as chip-level molecular transport
• Understanding nanokinematic phenomena and ability to control by micro-scale field and electronic signaling

Approach

• Actomyosin (actin-myosin) for protein-based biomolecular motor systems
• Isolation of myosin from organisms accustomed to survival in harsh environments, polypeptide design for motility control
• Integrated electrode structures under the assayed surface to establish discrete electric/magnetic fields localized on the micron scale as a means of regulating and achieving addressable molecular motility functions and transport
• Fluorescence techniques to optically observe actin motion in assay

Accomplishments and Plans

• Isolation and purification of heavy meromyosin (HMM) from skeletal muscles
• Demonstration of the unidirectional migration and velocity of negatively-charged actin that are effectively being controlled by the electrode-fabricated device via the localized microscopic DC electric fields
• Effect of actomyosin motion under various pH levels
• Longevity of actomyosin system on various inorganic assay surfaces (such as SiO2, PMMA, etc.)
• Future Directions
  • 6 -12 months: develop steering mechanism and capacitive sensing
  • 1-3 years: develop testbed devices