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Self-assembly of rodlike receptors from bulk solution
Sándor Kurunczi1, Robert Horvath, Yun-Peng Yeh
1Department of Materials, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, United Kingdom.
The Journal of Chemical Physics
|January 15, 2009
Summary
Bacterial flagellar filaments deposit onto surfaces, initially following random sequential addition kinetics. Anomalous bulk correlations accelerate deposition, leading to perpendicular orientation or ordered arrays at lower concentrations.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Materials Science
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Bacterial flagellar filaments are complex protein structures crucial for motility.
- Understanding their deposition behavior is key for biomaterial design and biosensor development.
- Controlled assembly of nanoscale structures on surfaces remains a significant challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the deposition kinetics and surface arrangement of bacterial flagellar filaments.
- To explore the influence of bulk concentration and inter-filament interactions on deposition.
- To characterize the orientation and ordering of deposited filaments on a chemically modified surface.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Optical Waveguide Lightmode Spectroscopy (OWLS) for real-time monitoring of filament deposition.
- Employed chemically modified planar substrata designed for covalent binding of flagellar filaments.
- Varied bulk concentrations of flagellar filaments to observe kinetic and structural differences.
Main Results:
- At high concentrations, filaments exhibited random sequential addition kinetics, depositing nearly perpendicular to the substratum.
- Rod-rod correlations in bulk solution anomalously accelerated filament arrival rates compared to spherical particles.
- At lower concentrations, filaments had time to self-assemble into ordered two-dimensional arrays.
Conclusions:
- Filament deposition is governed by a complex interplay of kinetics, concentration, and inter-particle interactions.
- Surface ordering into arrays is achievable at lower concentrations, suggesting potential for controlled nanoscale assembly.
- OWLS is effective for studying dynamic deposition processes of biological macromolecules.
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