Complementary biomolecular coassemblies direct energy transport for cardiac photostimulators

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.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2025-09-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2509467122
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.91

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Complementary biomolecular coassemblies direct energy transport for cardiac photostimulators

Phillip Kohl, Dmitry A. Fishman, Asuka Eguchi, Lanie Le et al.
1 citations
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
0.91
article

Complementary biomolecular coassemblies direct energy transport for cardiac photostimulators

Phillip Kohl, Dmitry A. Fishman, Asuka Eguchi, Lanie Le, Youli Li, Kathryn K. Lee, Herdeline Ann M. Ardoña, Yuyao Kuang, Griffin Milligan, Emil Lundqvist, Anant K. Paravastu, Ze‐Fan Yao, Sheng Wei Tang, Kim Nguyen, Michael V. Zaragoza, Sujeung Lim, Natalie Celt, C. Chung, Tarunya Rao Sudarshan
article en
1 citations

Abstract

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.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 122(36)
Georgia Institute of Technology (US), University of California, Santa Barbara (US), University of California, Irvine (US), Specim (Finland) (FI), Department of Physics, Mathematics and Informatics (BY), Department of Biological Sciences (RU), Applied Physical Sciences (United States) (US), Samueli Institute (US), Irvine University (US)
National Science Foundation, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, UC Irvine Materials Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, University of California, Irvine, National Institute on Aging, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH Office of the Director, Division of Materials Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Openalex Percentile: Top 23%
Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
0.91
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.