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The study’s lead author, Yuyao Kuang, who recently earned a Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering at UC Irvine, is a member of the research group headed by Herdeline “Digs” Ardoña that developed an optoelectronic biohybrid cardiac interface that can be used in heart drug screening and treatments.
Photo Credit: Steve Zylius / UC Irvine
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Light-Powered Biohybrid Cardiac Interface
The Core Concept: The light-powered biohybrid cardiac interface is an advanced polymeric device that utilizes light to electrically and mechanically control living heart tissue without the use of traditional metal electrodes.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike conventional metal electrode-based cardiac stimulation, which can cause tissue damage and contamination over time, this device uses optoelectronic polymer films to convert pulses of visible green light directly into localized electrical currents. Furthermore, it operates distinctly from optogenetics, as it stimulates native, unmodified cardiac tissue without requiring the genetic modification of cells to introduce light-sensitive proteins.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- Optoelectronic Polymer Film: A blend of conjugated polymers layered on an elastomeric base, featuring donor-acceptor junctions capable of generating surface photocurrents upon illumination.
- Composite Interface Layer: A specialized layer situated between the active polymer and the biological environment to enhance charge transport, aqueous stability, and cellular compatibility.
- Micropatterned Cardiac Cells: Neonatal rat ventricular myocytes cultured in an anisotropic arrangement to accurately replicate the organized fiber architecture of native heart muscle.
- Cantilever Geometry: The assembly of the layers into a muscular thin film that allows for the direct observation and precise quantification of bending motions and mechanical function triggered by light pulses.
Branch of Science: Biomolecular Engineering, Materials Science (Biomaterials), Cardiology and Cardiovascular Physiology
Future Application: Immediate applications include highly accurate, non-animal-based pharmaceutical drug screening and in vitro cardiac disease modeling. Long-term developmental goals include the creation of conformable, implantable cardiac patches capable of delivering precise, light-driven pacing therapies for damaged heart muscle, utilizing tissue-penetrating near-infrared light.
Why It Matters: This technology establishes a structurally compliant, contamination-free platform that speaks the native electrical and mechanical language of the heart. By providing a highly realistic electromechanical environment, it allows researchers to safely test how new cardiac drugs impact heart tissue in real-time, accelerating the discovery of novel treatments for life-threatening arrhythmias and other cardiovascular diseases.
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| “What we’ve built is essentially a light-powered interface that speaks in electrical and mechanical pulses, the same language as the heart, without any of the drawbacks of rigid electrodes, such as tissue damage or contamination risk over long-term use,” says study co-author Herdeline “Digs” Ardoña, UC Irvine assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Photo Credit: Steve Zylius / UC Irvine |
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a polymeric biohybrid cardiac device that harnesses the power of light to electrically and mechanically control living heart tissue without the use of metal electrodes.
The innovation represents a leap forward in how scientists study heart disease, test cardiac drugs and potentially treat life-threatening arrhythmias. The project is outlined in a paper published today in the journal Cell Biomaterials.
The invention works by coupling engineered layers of optoelectronic polymer film, which can convert light into an electrical current, directly with living cardiac cells. When pulsed with gentle, visible green light, the material generates photocurrents that stimulate the heart cells to contract in synchrony, mimicking a healthy human heartbeat. The result is a soft, flexible, light-driven biohybrid device that overcomes longstanding limitations of traditional, metal electrode-based cardiac stimulation.
“What we’ve built is essentially a light-powered interface that speaks in electrical and mechanical pulses, the same language as the heart, without any of the drawbacks of rigid electrodes, such as tissue damage or contamination risk over long-term use,” said co-author Herdeline “Digs” Ardoña, UC Irvine assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
The device is produced by blending and layering conjugated polymers on an elastomeric polymer base, whereby the topmost layer has donor-acceptor junctions capable of generating photocurrents at the surface when illuminated. Another composite material layer serves as an interface between this active layer and the biological environment, improving charge transport, stability in aqueous cell culture conditions and compatibility with living cells.
“When submerged in cell culture medium and illuminated, the polymeric blend generates a charge-transfer state that drives ionic redistribution at the polymer-electrolyte interface – effectively creating a gentle, localized electrical stimulus for heart cells growing on the surface,” said lead author Yuyao Kuang, who recently completed a Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering at UC Irvine. “This photocurrent generation mechanism is distinct from optogenetics, which requires genetic modification of cells to introduce light-sensitive proteins, making our approach applicable to native, unmodified cardiac tissue.”
Neonatal rat ventricular myocytes, a standard research model for human cardiac cells, were cultured on the optoelectronic substrate in an anisotropic, micropatterned arrangement that closely mimics the organized fiber architecture of the native heart muscle. The team then fashioned this layered construct into a muscular thin film with a cantilever geometry, allowing the researchers to directly observe and quantify the bending motions produced by cardiac contractions in response to light pulses, a measurement of both electrical pacing and mechanical function.
Ardoña said that two of the innovation’s most immediately impactful applications are in pharmaceutical drug screening and cardiac disease research. Currently, non-animal-based testing of how a new drug affects heart tissue in the laboratory relies on systems that use either rigid electrodes to pace cardiac contractions, which can introduce artifacts and contamination, or simplified models that don’t replicate the complex electromechanical environment of the beating heart.
“What we’ve built is essentially a light-powered interface that speaks in electrical and mechanical pulses, the same language as the heart, without any of the drawbacks of rigid electrodes, such as tissue damage or contamination risk over long-term use,” says study co-author Herdeline “Digs” Ardoña, UC Irvine assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Steve Zylius / UC Irvine
With the UC Irvine biohybrid platform, researchers can apply a candidate drug directly to the living, light-paced cardiac tissue and observe in real time how the medication affects the heart’s response to external electrical pacing and mechanical strain, tissue contractile strength, and even long-term structural remodeling of protein networks inside cells, all in a single, integrated experiment. This creates a far more realistic picture of a drug’s true effect on cardiac function than other existing in vitro tools can provide, according to Ardoña.
Beyond the laboratory, the team envisions future iterations of this technology serving as implantable cardiac patches, conformable devices that wrap around diseased or damaged heart muscle and deliver precise, light-driven pacing therapy. Because the platform is mechanically compliant and avoids rigid metal components, it’s inherently better suited to the soft, constantly moving environment of the heart than conventional pacemaker electrode technologies. The team is working toward versions of this platform that are responsive to longer wavelengths of light, such as near-infrared, which can pass through tissue layers.
Funding: Funding was provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
Published in journal: Cell Biomaterials
Authors: Yuyao Kuang, Ze-Fan Yao, Catherine Salgado, Emil M. Lundqvist, Nadeen Morsi, Natalie Celt, Juan Manuel Urueña, Chelsea M. Phillips, Michael J. Zeitz, James W. Smyth, Dmitry A. Fishman, and Herdeline Ann M. Ardoña
Source/Credit: University of California, Irvine
Reference Number: beng032426_01
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