AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ijb.4454
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Early Access

Fabrication of bacteriorhodopsin-embedded hydrogel construct for biocompatible photosensitive device

Mian Wu1,2,3 Feng Lin1,2,3 Yu Song1,2,3*
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1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
2 Biomanufacturing and Rapid Forming Technology Key Laboratory of Beijing, Beijing, China
3 Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing Technology of Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
Submitted: 6 August 2024 | Accepted: 24 September 2024 | Published: 25 September 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Bacteriorhodopsin is a promising photosensitive material with applications in energy conversion, biosensors, and optoelectronic devices due to its bio-sourced origin and photoelectrical properties. Despite advancements in recent years, the integration of bacteriorhodopsin-based devices necessitates the use of materials with little biocompatibility and fabrication techniques with restricted customizability, limiting potential applications such as optocontrol of cell behavior, implants with 3D patterning for retinal disease treatment, and light-sensitive cell robots. To solve this limitation, this study presents a novel approach by embedding bacteriorhodopsin into a hydrogel matrix utilizing an extrusion-based and 3D bioprinting technique, showcasing its light-sensitive characteristics within a fully biocompatible construct. The hydrogel comprising gelatin and sodium alginate offers excellent printability for generating structured designs with versatile patterns. Photoelectrical properties of the fabricated bacteriorhodopsin-embedded hydrogel construct, such as differential response, light intensity sensitivity, and bacteriorhodopsin concentration sensitivity, are identified through electrochemical characterization. The temporal and spatial pattern recognition ability, based on the photoelectrical characteristics, is demonstrated through modulated light illumination and different patterns of printed hydrogel construct. The pattern recognition ability was then applied for the reconstruction of images containing different Latin letters. This research presents a novel method for the fabrication of patterned hydrogel constructs with high biocompatibility and distinctive light-responsive properties, expanding the potential applications of bacteriorhodopsin in bio-related scenarios.

Keywords
Bacteriorhodopsin
Hydrogel construct
Photoelectrical response
Pattern recognition
Funding
Not applicable.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing