Spatiotemporal control of liquid crystal structure and dynamics through activity patterning.

Autor: Zhang R; Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.; Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China., Redford SA; The Graduate Program in Biophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.; James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA., Ruijgrok PV; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA., Kumar N; James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.; Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India., Mozaffari A; Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA., Zemsky S; Program in Biophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA., Dinner AR; James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.; Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA., Vitelli V; James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.; Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA., Bryant Z; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.; Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, USA., Gardel ML; Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. gardel@uchicago.edu.; James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. gardel@uchicago.edu.; Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. gardel@uchicago.edu., de Pablo JJ; Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. depablo@uchicago.edu.; Center for Molecular Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA. depablo@uchicago.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature materials [Nat Mater] 2021 Jun; Vol. 20 (6), pp. 875-882. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Feb 18.
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-00901-4
Abstrakt: Active materials are capable of converting free energy into mechanical work to produce autonomous motion, and exhibit striking collective dynamics that biology relies on for essential functions. Controlling those dynamics and transport in synthetic systems has been particularly challenging. Here, we introduce the concept of spatially structured activity as a means of controlling and manipulating transport in active nematic liquid crystals consisting of actin filaments and light-sensitive myosin motors. Simulations and experiments are used to demonstrate that topological defects can be generated at will and then constrained to move along specified trajectories by inducing local stresses in an otherwise passive material. These results provide a foundation for the design of autonomous and reconfigurable microfluidic systems where transport is controlled by modulating activity with light.
Databáze: MEDLINE