Cited by 62Microfluidic and Bio-sensing TechnologiesMicrotubule and mitosis dynamicsOrbital Angular Momentum in Optics

Microtubule alignment and manipulation using AC electrokinetics

Uppalapati, Maruti, Huang, Ying‐Ming, Jackson, Thomas N., Hancock, William O.·2008·Small

Abstract

The kinesin-microtubule system plays an important role in intracellular transport and is a model system for integrating biomotor-driven transport into microengineered devices. AC electrokinetics provides a novel tool for manipulating and organizing microtubules in solution, enabling new experimental geometries for investigating and controlling the interactions of microtubules and microtubule motors in vitro. By fabricating microelectrodes on glass substrates and generating AC electric fields across solutions of microtubules in low-ionic-strength buffers, bundles of microtubules are collected and aligned and the electrical properties of microtubules in solution are measured. The AC electric fields result in electro-osmotic flow, electrothermal flow, and dielectrophoresis of microtubules, which can be controlled by varying the solution conductivity, AC frequency, and electrode geometry. By mapping the solution conductivity and AC frequency over which positive dielectrophoresis occurs, the apparent conductivity of taxol-stabilized bovine-brain microtubules in PIPES buffer is measured to be 250 mS m(-1). By maximizing dielectrophoretic forces and minimizing electro-osmotic and electrothermal flow, microtubules are assembled into opposed asters. These experiments demonstrate that AC electrokinetics provides a powerful new tool for kinesin-driven transport applications and for investigating the role of microtubule motors in development and maintenance of the mitotic spindle.

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Crossref · 10.1002/smll.200701088

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Authors
Uppalapati, M., Huang, Y., Jackson, T. N., & Hancock, W. O.
Affiliations
Pennsylvania State University (US)
Corresponding author
Hancock, William O.
Venue
Small
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2008-09
Volume
4
Issue
9
Pages
1371-1381
ISSN
  • 1613-6810 (ISSN-L)
  • 1613-6829
OpenAlex
W2081189391
Cited by
62
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 3
FWCI
2.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Small (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Microfluidic and Bio-sensing Technologies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics
Keywords
microtubule alignment, AC electrokinetics, dielectrophoresis, electroosmotic flow, electrothermal flow, kinesin, microtubule motor proteins, microelectrodes, taxol-stabilized microtubules, ASTER, mitotic spindle, intracellular transport
MeSH terms
Animals, Buffers, Cattle, Computer Simulation, Electrodes, Electrons, Kinetics, Microtubules, Osmolar Concentration, Temperature, Water, Kinesins

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