Light activated neuron-cardiac cell circuit.

That could function as a model.

The circuit created would serve as a model, and because of being controllable by light, enable to better understand signal transduction pathway.

That can bring better understanding of several cardiac diseases:

Cardiomyophaty, arrhythmia,  dystrophinopathies, limb girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMD), and Emery–Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophies (EDMD)

Neuron secretes neuromediators, which will lead to contraction.

Aim 1

Prepare/transform the parts of the circuit

  • neuron (genetically modified eg. to be light sensitive)

  • cardiac muscle cell

  • Design the right environment - organ on the chip

    • designing a proper environment for cardiac muscle

      • Right medium

      • Right Temperature (+/- 36 C)

      • Optical system to observe effects of stimuli.

    • Figuring out the way how to connect those two organs

    • Choosing the sorce of stimulus (light)

  • Choosing the right amount of Light

  • Making an observations and describe of the light affects speed of contraction in cardiac cell tissue.

Aim 2

Experimenting with different muscle cells eg. skeletal muscle cells

  • Testing different substances as an inhbitors of neuromediators

    • Choosing different sites (closer to light receptor, closer to synapse)

Aim 3

Using working model circuit to better understand different disfunction's in transmissions of stimulus.

  • Having access to cardiac cell tissue of patience (or mouse models) experiencing heart related diseases

  • Creating assay which could tell what genes are responsible for contractions

Idea 2

During working on the project I also had an idea to collaborate with a colleague Writing Lin Principal Scientist of Medical Chemistry from who was working on Cell Free System

I was thinking of applying cell free expressed nanowires suspended in printable gel solution to test possibility of conductivity.

Using cell free sustem designed by Weiting Lin to express e-PN - nanowires.

  • proteins enabling conducting electric prosperities.

Choosing edible and printable material to print the scaffold for cell cultures. that could be: cellulose, (maybe chitin, or gelatine)

Test the conductivity (microfluidics ?) of gel/material and try to culture cells on the little fragment of gel with nanowires scaffold.

The idea would be to develop the possibility of induce muscle contraction of muscle cells on the scaffold.

Aim 1

Choosing and test suitable gel to suspend nanowires in.

  • Possible candidates: cellulose, chitin, or gelatine.

    • Check their conductivity without nanowire pili (later with the pili)

    • Figure out how to suspend nanowires in the printable material.

    • Figuring out/test how printable it is

    • Check the conductivity with the nanowires

Aim 2

Print small structure from the created gel

  • Check the possibility of culturing cells on this scaffold.

    • there is a possibility that bacterial  nanowires won’t be compatible with mammalian cells

  • Choose the cells 

  • Crete the source of electric impulse that could be later on translated to biochemical Impulse

Aim 3

Print bigger structure with chosen scaffold 

  • Populate it with cells / Scale Aim 2

Ethics & Safety

Ethics & Safety

Regarding main idea - I believe ethically and environmentally it is a safe concept an that proposed model could be very useful. I don’t acknowledge any big risks regarding this concept.

Regarding Idea 2 - Finding a way to achieve optimise cellular agriculture is very favourable for the planet (climate crisis) and well-being of animals.

  • It is important to have a good understanding of safety regarding nanowires. In the context of edibility.

he conception of this project was developed during How to Grow Almost Anything class in 2021 during the pandemic when only remote and conceptual work was enabled.

I would like to thank all the consultants for this idea of the project and whole HTGAA, Professors, Instructors, Teaching Assistants