One-step facile synthesis of monoporous polymer microspheres via microwave-controlled dispersion polymerization is introduced. This template-free method employing the dispersion polymerization of styrene under microwave irradiation induces directly the formation of uniform monoporous polymer microspheres, with controllable morphologies and sizes, which can be tuned by simply adjusting parameter...

Actin polymerization plays a critical role in generating propulsive force to drive many types of cell motility. The discovery of actin based motility of the bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes has lead to clearer understandings of the essential ingredients required for cell motility. The biophysical mechanisms by which these proteins generate forces is the subject of intense investigation...

Interference lithography can create large-area, defect-free nanostructures with unique optical properties. In this thesis, interference lithography will be utilized to create photonic crystals for functional devices or coatings. For instance, typical lithographic processing techniques were used to create 1, 2 and 3 dimensional photonic crystals in SU8 photoresist. These structures were in-fille...

Emulsion polymerization is one of the most important and versatile polymerization processes. About 10 million tonnes of polymer latices are produced annually for a variety of applications, such as coatings and paints. A key step in most applications is film formation upon evaporation of the dispersing medium, rendering aqueous dispersions particularly environmentally benign. Polymer dispersions...

Human Rad51 (hRad51), the protein central to DNA pairing and strand exchange during homologous recombination, polymerizes on DNA to form nucleoprotein filaments. By making use of magnetic tweezers to manipulate individual DNA molecules, we measured the nucleation and growth of hRad51 nucleoprotein filaments, and their subsequent disassembly in real time. The dependence of the initial polymeriza...

A formin Bni1p nucleates actin to assemble actin cables, which guide the polarized transport of secretory vesicles in budding yeast. We identified mutations that suppressed both the lethality and the excessive actin cable formation caused by overexpression of a truncated Bni1p (BNI1DeltaN). Two recessive mutations, act1-301 in the actin gene and sla2-82 in a gene involved in cortical actin patc...

We describe here the continuous observations of the polymerization of individual microtubules in vitro by darkfield microscopy. In homogeneous preparations we verify that polymerization can occur onto both ends of microtubules. The assembly of microtubules is polar, with one end growing at three times the rate of the other. The differential rate of elongation can be used to determine the polari...

A transition-metal-free controlled polymerization for the attainment of poly(p-aryleneethynylene)s is developed. The polymerization of 1-pentafluorophenyl-4-[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzene with a catalytic amount of fluoride anions proceeds in a chain-growth-like manner to afford polymers with controlled molecular weights and low polydispersity indexes. The mechanism involves a pentacoordinate...

Regulation of synaptic morphology depends on endocytosis of activated growth signal receptors, but the mechanisms regulating this membrane-trafficking event are unclear. Actin polymerization mediated by Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) and the actin-related protein 2/3 complex generates forces at multiple stages of endocytosis. FCH-BIN amphiphysin RVS (F-BAR)/SH3 domain proteins play key...