Electric field induced assembly of vimentin microscaffolds around metallic electrodes

The self-assembly properties of fibrous proteins such as collagen are frequently used to form three-dimensional scaffolds. In this study we investigated the effect of nonuniform alternating and static electric-fields on the self-assembly properties of a dilute solution of vimentin. In the presence of both types of fields at the same time, vimentin was observed to accumulate at the positive electrode and to form microscaffolds bridging the two electrodes in 20-30 min. Atomic force microscopy of the surface of dried microscaffolds revealed the presence of dense 8-12 nm diameter vimentin filament meshworks as well as bundles with typical diameters of 100-200 nm. Stretching of the scaffolds revealed that either the bundles or drawn meshworks could be extended to at least 6-fold and the presence fibers with a width of several μm.