RoL: EAGER: DESYN-C3: Using synthetic energy-harvesting materials at the cell surface to reduce low potential ferredoxins within the cytosol for metabolic applications

细胞利用许多化学能源。光合细胞可以利用阳光产生化学键来储存能量。这些能量被用来在细胞内穿梭电子，驱动反应。尽管如此，细胞不能直接利用外部的电能。如果他们能够利用电力作为动力来源，那将大大减轻电池在现场产生能量的负担，使其能够用于更有生产力的活动。这个项目试图创建一个允许这种情况发生的蜂窝接口。外部电源将是太阳能电池板产生的电力。电力将驱动氨基酸的产生。研究生和本科生将接受先进生物电子学研究技术的培训。这个项目的目标是建立一个模块化的细胞-材料界面，将外部电能源耦合到铁氧化还原蛋白的还原中。界面的材料侧将能够连接到一系列能量收集设备。细胞侧将促进低电位电子通过细胞膜传递到铁氧还蛋白，铁氧还蛋白随后将被用来促进一种被还原的代谢物——氨基酸半胱氨酸的产生。第一个目标是设计有效的电子跨膜传递。高通量筛选将用于将大肠杆菌的生长与低电位铁氧还蛋白（Fd）电子载体的电子循环效率结合起来。第二个目标是构建一种生物相容性材料（有机电极），作为细胞表面耦合模块。可扩散介质将被纳入电极和有机磷脂在介导远程电子转移的有效性将被检查。最终目标是使用生物有机杂交体来增加代谢途径的产量和表征电子转移效率。该项目产生的接口将是模块化的，在为自然和合成细胞过程提供动力方面可能有用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cells utilize many chemical sources of energy. Photosynthetic cells can use sunlight to create chemical bonds that store energy. That energy is used to shuttle electrons around the cell, driving reactions. Despite that, cells cannot utilize external sources of electrical energy directly. If they could utilize electricity as a power source, that would greatly reduce the burden on the cell to create energy on site, freeing it to be directed to more productive activities. This project is an attempt to create a cellular interface that allows that to happen. The external power source will be electricity generated by solar panels. The electricity will drive the production of an amino acid. Graduate students and undergraduates will be trained in advanced bioelectronics research techniques. The goal of this project is to build a modular cell-material interface that couples external electrical energy sources to the reduction of ferredoxins. The material side of the interface will enable attachment to a range of energy harvesting devices. The cell side will facilitate the transport of low potential electrons across the cell membrane to a ferredoxin, which will then be used to enhance the production of a reduced metabolite, the amino acid cysteine. The first objective is to engineer efficient electron transfer across the membrane. A high-throughput selection will be used to couple the growth of Escherichia coli to the electron cycling efficiency of low potential ferredoxin (Fd) electron carriers. The second objective is to build a biocompatible material (an organic electrode) that functions as a cell-surface coupling module. Diffusible mediators will be incorporated into the electrode and the effectiveness of organic phospholipids in mediating long-range electron transfer will be examined. The final objective is to use biological-organic hybrids to increase metabolic pathway yields and characterize electron transfer efficiencies. The interfaces arising from this project will be modular, and potentially useful in powering natural and synthetic cell processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.