By "crowdsurfing" motor proteins and using a succession of biological mechanisms, Sandia National Laboratories researchers have created linkages of polymer nanotubes that resemble the structure of a nerve, with many out-thrust filaments poised to gather or send electrical impulses. The soft artificial network could some day be used to painlessly interface with the body’s nerve structures.
Creation of the neural structure begins by altering the behavior of kinesin motor proteins. The tiny motors normally transport material from one part of a cell to another. The researchers glued the “shoulders” of kinesin motors to a glass substrate, preventing their bodies from traveling. Instead the proteins pass microtubules above them.
The microtubules, pre-coated with a sticky substance, pinch off polymer nanotubes that lengthen as the kinesin motors travel on. As the nanotubes lengthen and crosslink, they form complex structures. The networks range from hundreds of micrometers to tens of millimeters in total size, and are composed of tubes 30 to 50 nanometers in diameter.
The team ultimately hopes to create an artificial, highly branched neural structure.
