Toward kinesin-powered microdevices

Abstract

Kinesin motor proteins and the microtubule cytoskeleton function as an intracellular railroad system - a railroad with nanometre-scale engines running on nanometre-scale tracks. Our long-term objective is to take this molecular transport machinery and integrate it into kinesin-powered microdevices. As a step toward this objective, we have coupled kinesin to microscale silicon chips that were patterned photolithographically and etched from silicon membranes. The microchips were observed by light microscopy to move on microtubules aligned and immobilized on the surface of a microscope flowchamber. The microchips translated, rotated, and flipped over. From these examples of microchip movements, it is conceivable that this technology can be extended to moving more elaborate microparts, like gears, or rotors, or levers using kinesin motors. This will allow kinesin forces to be coupled to a useful action in a microdevice. For example, a microrotor turned by kinesin could demonstrate the feasibility of creating a kinesin-powered microgenerator or micropump.