Electric field-based organization of cytoskeletal nanowires using metallic glass wire electrodes

We present electric field-based in-vitro control of intracellular protein nanowires, so-called microtubules, using a pair of metallic glass (Pd42.5Cu30Ni7.5P20) microwire electrodes. We can reversibly control the spatio-temporal localization, orientation, as well as guided translocation of microtubules suspended in a buffer solution. Using freestanding wire electrodes to localize microtubules allows for an assembly of nanowires in a 0 or 1-dimensional environment, with the potential of producing more complex geometries. This is of particular interest where bio-mimetic applications require control beyond planar devices.