iScience
Volume 23, Issue 4, 24 April 2020, 101022
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Article
In Vivo Bioengineering of Fluorescent Conductive Protein-Dye Microfibers

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101022Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • The oligothiophene DTTO promotes the synthesis of microfibers in Hydra vulgaris

  • DTTO co-assembles with proteins giving rise to fluorescent and conductive microfibers

  • The biofiber synthesis is an active process, based on protein synthesis

  • In situ produced hybrid microfibers have great potential in biolectronics and biomedicine

Summary

Engineering protein-based biomaterials is extremely challenging in bioelectronics, medicine, and materials science, as mechanical, electrical, and optical properties need to be merged to biocompatibility and resistance to biodegradation. An effective strategy is the engineering of physiological processes in situ, by addition of new properties to endogenous components. Here we show that a green fluorescent semiconducting thiophene dye, DTTO, promotes, in vivo, the biogenesis of fluorescent conductive protein microfibers via metabolic pathways. By challenging the simple freshwater polyp Hydra vulgaris with DTTO, we demonstrate the stable incorporation of the dye into supramolecular protein-dye co-assembled microfibers without signs of toxicity. An integrated multilevel analysis including morphological, optical, spectroscopical, and electrical characterization shows electrical conductivity of biofibers, opening the door to new opportunities for augmenting electronic functionalities within living tissue, which may be exploited for the regulation of cell and animal physiology, or in pathological contexts to enhance bioelectrical signaling.

Subject Areas

Supramolecular Chemistry
Bioelectronics
Bioengineering

Cited by (0)

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Present address: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón and CIBER-BBN, Campus Rio Ebro, C/Mariano Esquillor s/n, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain

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Present address: Istituto di Scienze Applicate e Sistemi Intelligenti ‘‘E.Caianiello’’, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Campi Flegrei, 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy

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Lead Contact