Fig. 1

Flexural rigidity measurement of MTs. A Illustration of a partially biotinylated MT, that was immobilized onto the Au-stripe-patterned substrate with biotin–streptavidin bindings and the free segment fluctuated as a cantilever beam under Brownian motion. B Sequential images of a fluctuating MT (orange red) immobilized on the Au-stripe (light orange). Scale bar = 5 μm. Theoretical model of MT thermal fluctuation with localization precision of C 1 nm, D 10 nm, and E 100 nm. MT shapes in 500 frames are superimposed with different colors