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Living myofibroblast-silicon composites for probing electrical coupling in cardiac systems.

ABSTRACT: Traditional bioelectronics, primarily comprised of nonliving synthetic materials, lack cellular behaviors such as adaptability and motility. This shortcoming results in mechanically invasive devices and nonnatural signal transduction across cells and tissues. Moreover, resolving heterocellular electrical communication in vivo is extremely limited due to the invasiveness of traditional interconnected electrical probes. In this paper, we present a cell-silicon hybrid that integrates native cellular behavior (e.g., gap junction formation and biosignal processing) with nongenetically enabled photosensitivity. This hybrid configuration allows interconnect-free cellular modulation with subcellular spatial resolution for bioelectric studies. Specifically, we hybridize cardiac myofibroblasts with silicon nanowires and use these engineered hybrids to synchronize the electrical activity of cardiomyocytes, studying heterocellular bioelectric coupling in vitro. Thereafter, we inject the engineered myofibroblasts into heart tissues and show their ability to seamlessly integrate into contractile tissues in vivo. Finally, we apply local photostimulation with high cell specificity to tackle a long-standing debate regarding the existence of myofibroblast-cardiomyocyte electrical coupling in vivo.

SUBMITTER: Rotenberg MY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6842627 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Living myofibroblast-silicon composites for probing electrical coupling in cardiac systems.

Rotenberg Menahem Y MY Yamamoto Naomi N Schaumann Erik N EN Matino Laura L Santoro Francesca F Tian Bozhi B

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20191017 45

Traditional bioelectronics, primarily comprised of nonliving synthetic materials, lack cellular behaviors such as adaptability and motility. This shortcoming results in mechanically invasive devices and nonnatural signal transduction across cells and tissues. Moreover, resolving heterocellular electrical communication in vivo is extremely limited due to the invasiveness of traditional interconnected electrical probes. In this paper, we present a cell-silicon hybrid that integrates native cellula ...[more]

PMID: 31624124

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Living myofibroblast-silicon composites for probing electrical coupling in cardiac systems.

Publications

Living myofibroblast-silicon composites for probing electrical coupling in cardiac systems.

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