Abstract
Studying mechanical deformation at the surface of soft materials has been challenging due to the difficulty in separating surface deformation from the bulk elasticity of the materials. Here, we introduce a new approach for studying the surface mechanical deformation of a soft material by utilizing a large number of self-propelled microprobes driven by motor proteins on the surface of the material. Information about the surface mechanical deformation of the soft material is obtained through changes in mobility of the microprobes wandering across the surface of the soft material. The active microprobes respond to mechanical deformation of the surface and readily change their velocity and direction depending on the extent and mode of surface deformation. This highly parallel and reliable method of sensing mechanical deformation at the surface of soft materials is expected to find applications that explore surface mechanics of soft materials and consequently would greatly benefit the surface science.
Highlights
Studying mechanical deformation at the surface of soft materials has been challenging due to the difficulty in separating surface deformation from the bulk elasticity of the materials
Anti-GFP antibodies were deposited on the PDMS surface; green fluorescent protein fused kinesin-1 (GFP-kinesin) motor proteins were applied to the PDMS
We demonstrated the capability of the active probes for sensing surface mechanical deformation of soft materials by visualizing a stress field with a greater complexity than a uniform stress field (Fig. 6a); this stress field has been analytically solved[30]
Summary
Studying mechanical deformation at the surface of soft materials has been challenging due to the difficulty in separating surface deformation from the bulk elasticity of the materials. We introduce a new approach for studying the surface mechanical deformation of a soft material by utilizing a large number of self-propelled microprobes driven by motor proteins on the surface of the material. The free end of the leading tip of a gliding cytoskeletal filament undergo thermal fluctuations until it binds to a motor protein; the remaining part of the filament is anchored to the other motor proteins[17] This anchored ‘searchand-catch’ mechanism provides a potential means for sensing the local environment of a submicrometer region. This work introduces a new concept for characterizing surface mechanical deformation of soft materials by employing motor protein-driven cytoskeletal filaments, and at the same time offers valuable insights in the dynamic behaviour of motor protein systems under mechanical stress.
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