Complementary biomolecular coassemblies direct energy transport for cardiac photostimulators

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Yao, Ze-Fan; Lim, Sujeung; Kuang, Yuyao; Lundqvist, Emil M.; Celt, Natalie; Chung, Caleb O.; Lee, Kathryn K.; Nguyen, Krystal; Le, Lanie; Tang, Sheng Wei; Milligan, Griffin M.; Kohl, Phillip; Sudarshan, Tarunya Rao; Li, Youli; Eguchi, Asuka; Paravastu, Anant K.; Zaragoza, Michael V.; Fishman, Dmitry A.; Ardona, Herdeline Ann M.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Irvine; University of California System; University of California Irvine; University of California System; University of California Irvine; University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of California System; University of California Irvine; University of California System; University of California Irvine; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-8688
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2509467122
• 发表日期: 2025-09-09
• 关键词: electrical-stimulation; amyloid fibrils; cells; assemblies; optogenetics; maturation; hydrogels; systems; muscle; donor

摘要

Charge and energy transport within living systems are fundamental processes that enable the autonomous function of excitable cells and tissues. To date, localized control of these transport processes has been enabled by genetic modification approaches to render light sensitivity to cells. Here, we present peptidic nanoassemblies as constituents of a cardiac biomaterial platform that leverages complementary sequence interactions to direct photoinduced energy transport at the cellular interface. Photophysical characterizations and conductivity measurements confirm the occurrence of energy/charge transfer and photocurrent generation upon optical excitation in both dry and electrolytic environments. Comparing an electrostatic sequence pair against a sequence-matched donor-acceptor coassembly, we demonstrate that the sequence design with charge complementarity shows more prominent photocurrent behavior. With the flanking bioadhesive units, the primary and stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes interfaced with covalently stabilized films of the optoelectronic nanostructures exhibited material-stimulated genotypic, structural, or functional cardiac features. Collectively, our findings introduce an optoelectronic cardiac biomaterial where coassembled peptide nanostructures are molecularly designed to induce light sensitivity in excitable cells without gene modification, influencing in vitro cardiac contractile behavior and expression of cardiac markers. Significance Sustained electrophysiological signals play a critical role in powering the autonomous function of excitable tissues, such as those found in the heart. Traditional approaches to mimicking this phenomenon and delivering external electrical signals in vitro have been limited by the spatial resolution, specificity, and compatibility with soft interfaces due to the nature of the electrodes used in this process. Inspired by transport mechanisms in natural photosynthetic systems, here, we introduce a cardiac biomaterial interface composed of complementary peptide pairs that drive the ordering of electroactive units, serving as conduits for photoinduced energy transport. We show that light can be converted into cardiac stimulatory cues by synthetic biomacromolecules, with properties sensitive to the choice of sequence pairs.