A simple surface modification to generate atomically-flat and hydrophobic substrates for gliding assays with protein motors

In vitro gliding assay is a well-established assay for determining the activity of protein motors, such as actin-associated myosins and microtubule-associated kinesins and dyneins. In one of the conventional methods, protein motors are immobilized onto a nitrocellulose-coated coverslip and it propels actin filaments in the presence of ATP. Gliding assays also serve as the foundation for protein-motor-based nanotechnological devices such as biosensing and sorting. However, the preparation of nitrocellulose-coated coverslips is time-consuming and produces rough surfaces. Furthermore, the nitrocellulose film exhibits high background autofluorescence, which can be a problem in single-molecule measurements. Here, we investigated the use of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) to study actomyosin function and characterized its physical properties on glass coverslips and glass capillary tubes. We showed that the total preparation time to coat a coverslip with HMDS is <30 minutes, which is 1 order of magnitude faster than the >12-hour protocol for coating glass surfaces with nitrocellulose. In contrast to nitrocellulose film, HMDS vapor deposition is effortless and provides an atomically flat surface with low autofluorescence. In addition, HMDS does not interfere with myosin function, which is indicated by the similar actin gliding speed when compared with nitrocellulose. Our results show that HMDS vapor deposition is a more favorable surface treatment to nitrocellulose for in vitro gliding assay.

Statistics of Sliding on Periodic and Atomically Flat Surfaces

Among the so-called analytical models of friction, the most popular and widely used one, the Prandtl-Tomlinson model in one and two dimensions is considered here to numerically describe the sliding of the tip within an atomic force microscope over a periodic and atomically flat surface. Because in these PT-models, the Newtonian equations of motion for the AFM-tip are Langevin-type coupled stochastic differential equations the resulting friction and reaction forces must be statistically correctly determined and interpreted. For this, it is firstly shown that the friction and reaction forces as averages of the time-resolved ones over the sliding part, are normally (Gaussian) distributed. Then based on this, an efficient numerical scheme is developed and implemented to accurately estimate the means and standard deviations of friction and reaction forces without performing too many repetitions for the same sliding experiments. The used corrugation potential is the simplest one obtained from the Fourier series expansion of the two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential, e.g., for an fcc(111) surface, which permits sliding on both commensurate and incommensurate paths. In this manner, it is proven that the PT-models predict both frictional regimes, namely the structural superlubricity and stick-slip along (in)commensurate sliding paths, if the ratio of mean corrugation and elastic energies is properly set.

Evolution of High-Quality Homoepitaxial CVD Diamond Films Induced by Methane Concentration

In this paper, we successfully synthesized homoepitaxial diamond with high quality and atomically flat surface by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition. The sample presents a growth rate of 3 μm/h, the lowest RMS of 0.573 nm, and the narrowest XRD FWHM of 31.32 arcsec. An effect analysis was also applied to discuss the influence of methane concentration on the diamond substrates.

Water friction in nanofluidic channels made from two-dimensional crystals

Membrane-based applications such as osmotic power generation, desalination and molecular separation would benefit from decreasing water friction in nanoscale channels. However, mechanisms that allow fast water flows are not fully understood yet. Here we report angstrom-scale capillaries made from atomically flat crystals and study the effect of confining walls’ material on water friction. A massive difference is observed between channels made from isostructural graphite and hexagonal boron nitride, which is attributed to different electrostatic and chemical interactions at the solid-liquid interface. Using precision microgravimetry and ion streaming measurements, we evaluate the slip length, a measure of water friction, and investigate its possible links with electrical conductivity, wettability, surface charge and polarity of the confining walls. We also show that water friction can be controlled using hybrid capillaries with different slip lengths at opposing walls. The reported advances extend nanofluidics’ toolkit for designing smart membranes and mimicking manifold machinery of biological channels.