Work

Millisecond Curing Time of a Molecular Adhesive Causes Velocity-Dependent Cargo-Loading of Molecular Shuttles

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: It has been recently discovered that biological systems exploit complex intermolecular bonds, such as the "catch bond" between FimH proteins and mannose, to regulate dynamic assembly processes. Here we show that the assembly of hybrid nanostructures also has to account for and ideally exploit the subtleties of the utilized intermolecular interactions. We focus on the biotin-streptavidin bond, which gains its ultimate strength on a time scale of milliseconds, due to existence of metastable binding states. As a consequence of the gluelike character of this widely used intermolecular bond, the velocity of molecular shuttles, active nanoscale transport systems based on biomolecular motors and their associated filaments, has to be optimized to permit efficient attachment of cargo via biotin-streptavidin linkages. The attachment process can only be understood by combining rigorous mechanical engineering analysis with detailed physicochemical models.

Source: Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl803831y

Authors: Ashutosh Agarwal, Parag Katira, Henry Hess

Institution: University of Florida

Language: English

Topic: Micro and Nano Robotics

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,500

Funders: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research