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Confinement and Manipulation of Actin Filaments by Electric Fields

Mark E. Arsenault ^*, Hui Zhao ^*, Prashant K. Purohit ^*, Yale E. Goldman  and Haim H. Bau ^*

^* Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and Pennsylvania Muscle Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Correspondence: Address reprint requests and inquiries to Haim H. Bau, Tel.: 215-898-8363; Fax: 215-573-6334; E-mail: bau{at}seas.upenn.edu; or Yale E. Goldman, E-mail: goldmany{at}mail.med.upenn.edu.

When an AC electric field was applied across a small gap between two metal electrodes elevated above a surface, rhodamine-phalloidin-labeled actin filaments were attracted to the gap and became suspended between the two electrodes. The variance s²(x) of each filament's horizontal, lateral displacement was measured as a function of electric field intensity and position along the filament. s²(x) markedly decreased as the electric field intensity increased. Hypothesizing that the electric field induces tension in the filament, we estimated the tension using a linear, Brownian dynamic model. Our experimental method provides a novel means for trapping and manipulating biological filaments and for probing the surface conductance and mechanical properties of single polymers.