Assembling Microtubule-Based Active Matter
Authors:
- 28 April 2022
- book chapter
- Published by Springer Nature
- Vol. 2430, 151-183
Abstract
Studied for more than a century, equilibrium liquid crystals provided insight into the properties of ordered materials, and led to commonplace applications such as display technology. Active nematics are a new class of liquid crystal materials that are driven out of equilibrium by continuous motion of the constituent anisotropic units. A versatile experimental realization of active nematic liquid crystals is based on rod-like cytoskeletal filaments that are driven out of equilibrium by molecular motors. We describe protocols for assembling microtubule-kinesin based active nematic liquid crystals and associated isotropic fluids. We describe the purification of each protein and the assembly process of a two-dimensional active nematic on a water–oil interface. Finally, we show examples of nematic formation and describe methods for quantifying their non-equilibrium dynamics. Key words Microtubules Kinesin motors Active matter Liquid crystals Self-organization Autonomous flows Topological defectsKeywords
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