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Gel biomachine based on muscle proteins

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Summary

We have created an ATP-fueled soft gel machine constructed from muscle proteins. Chemically cross-linked gels of the polymer-actin complex of the length several decades times the length of native actin filament (F-actin) move on myosin-coated surface with a velocity as high as that of native F-actin, by coupling to ATP hydrolysis. The motility observed in muscle protein-gels suggests that one might construct a soft machine fueled by chemical energy using actin and myosin molecules as elements. We have investigated the growth process of polymer-actin complexes and the correlation between the polarity and the motility of polymer-actin complex gels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Hyuck Joon Kwon, Kazuhiro Shikinaka, Akira Kakugo, Jian Ping Gong & Yoshihito Osada

  2. SORST, JST, Japan

    Jian Ping Gong

Authors
  1. Hyuck Joon Kwon
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  2. Kazuhiro Shikinaka
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  3. Akira Kakugo
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  4. Jian Ping Gong
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  5. Yoshihito Osada
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Correspondence to Jian Ping Gong.

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Kwon, H., Shikinaka, K., Kakugo, A. et al. Gel biomachine based on muscle proteins. Polym. Bull. 58, 43–52 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-006-0613-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-006-0613-4

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