Molecular photoswitches mediating the strain-driven disassembly of supramolecular tubules.

ABSTRACT: Chemists have created molecular machines and switches with specific mechanical responses that were typically demonstrated in solution, where mechanically relevant motion is dissipated in the Brownian storm. The next challenge consists of designing specific mechanisms through which the action of individual molecules is transmitted to a supramolecular architecture, with a sense of directionality. Cellular microtubules are capable of meeting such a challenge. While their capacity to generate pushing forces by ratcheting growth is well known, conversely these versatile machines can also pull microscopic objects apart through a burst of their rigid tubular structure. One essential feature of this disassembling mechanism is the accumulation of strain in the tubules, which develops when tubulin d

SUBMITTER: Fredy JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5692565 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature