Polymorphism in tubulin assemblies: A mechanical model

Tubulin encapsulation of carbon nanotubes into functional hybrid assemblies.

TPPP/p25 promotes tubulin assemblies and blocks mitotic spindle formation.

Recently, we isolated from bovine brain a protein, TPPP/p25 and identified as p25, a brain-specific protein that induced aberrant tubulin assemblies. The primary sequence of this protein differs from that of other proteins identified so far; however, it shows high homology with p25-like hypothetical proteins sought via blast. Here, we characterized the binding of TPPP/p25 to tubulin by means of...

Exploration of Unknown Mechanical Assemblies Through Manipulation

If robots must function in unstructured environments, they must also possess the ability to acquire information and construct appropriate models of the unknown environment. This paper addresses the automatic generation of kinematic models of unknown objects with moveable parts in the environment. If the relative motion between moving parts must be observed and characterized, vision alone cannot...

Automating Redesign of Electro-Mechanical Assemblies

Automating redesign of electro-mechanical artifacts presents many difficult problems to the developers of intelligent CAD systems. To address this need requires we identify new AI technologies for representation and planning and effectively apply them to the manufacturing problem. In this paper, we present the redesign problem and outline some of the critical points; presenting how to bring exi...

Mechanical properties of brain tubulin and microtubules

We measured the elasticity and viscosity of brain tubulin solutions under various conditions with a cone and plate rheometer using both oscillatory and steady shearing modes. Microtubules composed of purified tubulin, purified tubulin with taxol and 3x cycled microtubule protein from pig, cow, and chicken behaved as mechanically indistinguishable viscoelastic materials. Microtubules composed of...