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Assembling Microtubule-Based Active Matter

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Microtubules

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2430))

Abstract

Studied for more than a century, equilibrium liquid crystals provided insight into the properties of ordered materials, and led to commonplace applications such as display technology. Active nematics are a new class of liquid crystal materials that are driven out of equilibrium by continuous motion of the constituent anisotropic units. A versatile experimental realization of active nematic liquid crystals is based on rod-like cytoskeletal filaments that are driven out of equilibrium by molecular motors. We describe protocols for assembling microtubule-kinesin based active nematic liquid crystals and associated isotropic fluids. We describe the purification of each protein and the assembly process of a two-dimensional active nematic on a water–oil interface. Finally, we show examples of nematic formation and describe methods for quantifying their non-equilibrium dynamics.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Alexandra M. Tayar and Linnea M. Lemma contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Alexandra M. Tayar & Zvonimir Dogic

  2. Department of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA

    Linnea M. Lemma

Authors
  1. Alexandra M. Tayar
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  2. Linnea M. Lemma
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  3. Zvonimir Dogic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zvonimir Dogic .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept Chemistry and Biotechnology, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan

    Hiroshi Inaba

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Tayar, A.M., Lemma, L.M., Dogic, Z. (2022). Assembling Microtubule-Based Active Matter. In: Inaba, H. (eds) Microtubules. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2430. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1983-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1983-4_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1982-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1983-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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