Skip to main content
. 2021 Mar 24;10(6):1490–1504. doi: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00071

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Photostimulated contraction of MTs/kinesin-1 network inside a millifluidic device (SI, Video S10). (A) Schematic representation of the millifluidic device highlighting the area illuminated with discontinuous microscope light. Taxol-stabilized MTs are mixed with kinesin-1 motors and a preilluminated energy module prior to injection into a millifluidic channel. (B,C) Over time, as available ATP in the energy module is consumed by force-generating kinesin-1 motors, discontinuous microscope illumination compensates for ATP consumption and filamentous network contracts up to 38%. Quantitative analysis of the width of the contracted network in the illuminated region shows an exponential decay over time. The initial width of the network is W = 1.5 mm. (D) Space-time plot demonstrating the network contraction along the white dashed line drawn in part C. (E) In the nonilluminated areas, where ATP is only consumed but not replenished, we monitored a reduced contractility of up to 10% after 1 h.