Dynamic Control of Microtubules at Surfaces
Summary: As
modern electronic devices have become successivly smaller, a
pressing need has developed for constructing complex structures from
the "bottom up" through self-assembly of simple building blocks into
two- and three- dimensional structures. Any self-assembled system
is dominated by noncovalent interactions where there is essentially no
ability to impose structure by a pattern or mask. Biology has many
examples of intricate structures that are constructed through the
self-assembly of small molecular components. Currently we are
interested in the fibers that compose the cytoskeleton, which are
exquisitely ordered three-dimensional structures that are
self-assembled through noncovalent, electrostatic interactions of
macromolecules in processes that are highly regulated by the cell.
The goal of this research is to use biological molecules and
mechanisms to self-assemble artificial devices.
