Molecular Scale Imaging of F-Actin Assemblies Immobilized on a Photopolymer Surface

Taiji Ikawa, Fumihiko Hoshino, Osamu Watanabe, Youli Li, Philip Pincus, and Cyrus R. Safinya
Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 018101 – Published 3 January 2007

Abstract

A photo-immobilization based process is presented for direct imaging of hierarchical assemblies of biopolymers using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The technique was used to investigate the phase behavior of F-actin aggregates as a function of concentration of the divalent cation Mg2+. The data provided direct experimental evidence of a coil-on-coil (braided) structure of F-actin bundles formed at high Mg2+ concentrations. At intermediate Mg2+ concentrations, the data showed the first images of the two-dimensional nematic rafts discovered by recent x-ray studies and theoretical treatments.

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  • Received 23 August 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.018101

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Taiji Ikawa1,2,*, Fumihiko Hoshino1, Osamu Watanabe1, Youli Li2,†, Philip Pincus2, and Cyrus R. Safinya2,‡

  • 1Toyota Central R&D Laboratories, Inc., Nagakute, Aichi, 480-1192, Japan
  • 2Materials Research Laboratory, Departments of Materials, Physics, Molecular and Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

  • *Corresponding author: Toyota Central R&D Laboratories, Inc., Nagakute, Aichi, 480-1192, Japan. Electronic mail: e1056@mosk.tytlabs.co.jp
  • Corresponding author: Materials Research Laboratory, University of CA, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. Electronic mail: youli@mrl.ucsb.edu
  • Corresponding author: Materials Department, University of CA, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. Electronic mail: safinya@mrl.ucsb.edu

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 1 — 5 January 2007

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