User:Andy Maloney/Kinesin & Microtubule Page/Microtubule papers/Velocity modulation of microtubules in electric fields

Disclaimer

These are my notes on the paper. Please read the paper before reading my notes.

This paper talks about changing the velocity of microtubules using electric fields.
Buffer
- 80 mM PIPES
- 10 mM ATP
They selected only microtubules that are parallel or perpendicular to the electric field within 5˚.
They are saying that they show positive voltages (negative fields) assisting the microtubule movement while negative (positive fields) voltages hinder it.
- This means that this paper's statement that microtubules have an overall negative charge is correct.
They got speeds up to 4 µm/s!
They state that higher kinesin densities require larger forces, i.e. fields, to stop microtubules.
They saw velocity increases in microtubules running perpendicular to the field.
ATP concentration didn't have an effect on velocity with applied fields.
I'm not sure they took into consideration the flow of ions due to the electric field.