Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : September 13, 2020 - September 16, 2020
In this study, we proposed a motor protein actuator in which actomyosin was reconstituted in a collagen gel. A collagen gel was used to achieve sufficient mechanical strength to be used as an actuator, whereas previous studies using motor proteins had low mechanical strength and could not be used as an actuator. The actuators were fabricated by just mixing actin, myosin, and collagen solutions and incubating them in a mold for 10 hours. This actuator is contracted by adding ATP and can be retracted multiple times by stretching. We performed three contractions and confirmed that we could obtain a stable contraction ratio of about 40%. These actuators can be made only from materials derived from living organisms and therefore have a low impact on the human body and the environment. The actuator is expected to be used in medical and micro-robotics and other fields in the future.
