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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Light-driven Molecular Motors on Surfaces for Single Molecular Imaging
Published on: March 13, 2019
Molecular motor transport through hollow nanowires
Mercy Lard1, Lasse ten Siethoff, Johanna Generosi
1Nanometer Structure Consortium (nmC@LU) and Solid State Physics, Lund University , Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
Abstract:
Biomolecular motors offer self-propelled, directed transport in designed microscale networks and can potentially replace pump-driven nanofluidics. However, in existing systems, transportation is limited to the two-dimensional plane. Here we demonstrate fully one-dimensional (1D) myosin-driven motion of fluorescent probes (actin filaments) through 80 nm wide, Al2O3 hollow nanowires of micrometer length. The motor-driven transport is orders of magnitude faster than would be possible by passive diffusion. The system represents a necessary element for advanced devices based on gliding assays, for example, in lab-on-a-chip systems with channel crossings and in pumpless nanosyringes. It may also serve as a scaffold for bottom-up assembly of muscle proteins into ordered contractile units, mimicking the muscle sarcomere.
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