We demonstrated biomolecular motors driven swarming of microtubules and their dissociation under UV and visible light irradiation, respectively. A photoresponsive molecule, para tert-butyl-substituted azobenzene was incorporated to the backbone of single strand DNA, which functions as a photoswitch to control the swarming of microtubules in a reversible manner. This work is expected to expand the potential applications of biomolecular motors in developing photoregulated molecular machines.
- Satsuki Ishii
- Mousumi Akter
- Akira Kakugo
