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Article
Open AccessEvaluating changes in growth and pigmentation of Cladosporium cladosporioides and Paecilomyces variotii in response to gamma and ultraviolet irradiation
Melanin-containing fungi (black molds) have the capacity to thrive under extreme environmental conditions such as the elevated radiation levels inside the former Chernobyl reactors. These fungi have been hypot...
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Protocol
Characterizing the Number of Kinesin Motors Bound to Microtubules in the Gliding Motility Assay Using FLIC Microscopy
Intracellular transport by kinesin motors moving along their associated cytoskeletal filaments, microtubules, is essential to many biological processes. This active transport system can be reconstituted in vit...
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Article
Open AccessTubulin islands containing slowly hydrolyzable GTP analogs regulate the mechanism and kinetics of microtubule depolymerization
Dynamic instability of microtubules is characterized by stochastically alternating phases of growth and shrinkage and is hypothesized to be controlled by the conformation and nucleotide state of tubulin dimers...
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Article
Open AccessMechanical splitting of microtubules into protofilament bundles by surface-bound kinesin-1
The fundamental biophysics of gliding microtubule (MT) motility by surface-tethered kinesin-1 motor proteins has been widely studied, as well as applied to capture and transport analytes in bioanalytical micro...
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Article
Effects of Confinement on Molecular Motor-Driven Self-Assembly of Ring Structures
Active transport by kinesin molecular motors has been used to assemble ring nanocomposites comprised of biotinylated microtubules and streptavidin-coated quantum dots. Here we studied the effects of two-dimens...
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Article
Cytotoxicity and inflammation in human alveolar epithelial cells following exposure to occupational levels of gold and silver nanoparticles
While inhalation represents one of the most likely routes of exposure, the toxicity and response of nanoparticles at concentrations expected from such an exposure are not well understood. Here we characterized...
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Article
Develo** Nanoscale Materials Using Biomimetic Assembly Processes
The formation and nature of living materials are fundamentally different from those of synthetic materials. Synthetic materials generally have static structures, and are not capable of adapting to changing env...
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Article
Stability of Chemically Crosslinked Microtubules
Microtubules (MT) are dynamic protein-based polymers with numerous applications in materials science including the active transport of nanomaterials and as templates for biomimetic materials synthesis. Some of...
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Article
Control of a biomolecular motor-powered nanodevice with an engineered chemical switch
The biophysical and biochemical properties of motor proteins have been well-studied, but these motors also show promise as mechanical components in hybrid nano-engineered systems1,2,3,4. The cytoplasmic F1 fragme...
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Chapter and Conference Paper
Fabrication of a Nanoneedle Array
We have developed a new fabrication method for building large arrays of needles with nanometer-size apertures. Because the process is entirely based on standard photolithographic techniques and conventional si...
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Article
Constructing Organic/Inorganic NEMS Devices Powered by Biomolecular Motors
The recognition of many enzymes as nanoscale molecular motors has opened the door for the potential creation of hybrid organic/inorganic nano-electro-mechanical (NEMS) devices. The long-term objective of this ...
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Article
Detection of tomato mosaic tobamovirus RNA in ancient glacial ice
Tomato mosaic tobamovirus is a very stable plant virus with a wide host range, which has been detected in plants, soil, water, and clouds. Because of its stability and prevalence in the environment, we hypoth...
