Fleximags: New tools for micromechanical studies of biomolecular assemblies
Résumé
Magnetic colloidal particles can be readily assembled into one-dimensional structures by field induced dipole-dipole interactions. When interacting polymers are adsorbed on the colloid surfaces, the filaments can be made into permanent flexible filaments, or "fleximags". Their bending properties is then determined by the mechanical properties of the linking polymers. We use a specific dynamical behavior of fleximags to measure their bending stiffness. Biomolecular assemblies extracted from cells and functionalized to interact specifically to the colloids can also act as linkers. We are using this new tool to probe the association of centrin molecules, these proteins being suspected to play an important role in mechanotransduction within cells.