Enhanced Photocurrent in Engineered Bacteriorhodopsin Monolayer

Patil, Amol V.; Premaruban, Thenhuan; Berthoumieu, Olivia; Watts, Anthony; Davis, Jason J.

doi:10.1021/jp210520k

Cited by 28 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Reproducibility of the photosensor is comparable to that of previous reports [22–24]. Upon light exposure, upper side of the ITO acted as cathode (electron donor) confirming the orientation of the upper PM nitrocellulose whereas the bottom side acted as an anode (electron acceptor).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

Deposition of Bacteriorhodopsin Protein in a Purple Membrane Form on Nitrocellulose Membranes for Enhanced Photoelectric Response

Kim

Neužil

Nam

et al. 2012

Sensors

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Bacteriorhodopsin protein (bR)-based systems are one of the simplest known biological energy converters. The robust chemical, thermal and electrochemical properties of bR have made it an attractive material for photoelectric devices. This study demonstrates the photoelectric response of a dry bR layer deposited on a nitrocellulose membrane with indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. Light-induced electrical current as well as potential and impedance changes of dried bR film were recorded as the function of illumination. We have also tested bR in solution and found that the electrical properties are strongly dependent on light intensity changing locally proton concentration and thus pH of the solution. Experimental data support the assumption that bR protein on a positively charged nitrocellulose membrane (PNM) can be used as highly sensitive photo- and pH detector. Here the bR layer facilitates proton translocation and acts as an ultrafast optoelectric signal transducer. It is therefore useful in applications related to bioelectronics, biosensors, bio-optics devices and current carrying junction devices.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

Deposition of Bacteriorhodopsin Protein in a Purple Membrane Form on Nitrocellulose Membranes for Enhanced Photoelectric Response

Kim

Neužil

Nam

et al. 2012

Sensors

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“…In addition to enhancing the lifetime of different photocycle intermediates of BR, mutagenesis has been employed to enhance the innate dipole moment, gold-binding capabilities and specificity of ion pumping of BR. For a number of device platforms and architectures, the ability of BR to bind to gold is critical because gold is a chemically inert and electrically conductive [112][113][114]. The native protein contains no cysteine residues and thus the strategic addition of cysteine residues in the loop regions of BR via site-directed mutagenesis allows BR to rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org J R Soc Interface 10: 20130197 covalently bind to gold.…”

Section: Optimization Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Directed evolution of bacteriorhodopsin for applications in bioelectronics

Wagner

Greco

Ranaghan

et al. 2013

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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In nature, biological systems gradually evolve through complex, algorithmic processes involving mutation and differential selection. Evolution has optimized biological macromolecules for a variety of functions to provide a comparative advantage. However, nature does not optimize molecules for use in human-made devices, as it would gain no survival advantage in such cooperation. Recent advancements in genetic engineering, most notably directed evolution, have allowed for the stepwise manipulation of the properties of living organisms, promoting the expansion of protein-based devices in nanotechnology. In this review, we highlight the use of directed evolution to optimize photoactive proteins, with an emphasis on bacteriorhodopsin (BR), for device applications. BR, a highly stable light-activated proton pump, has shown great promise in three-dimensional optical memories, real-time holographic processors and artificial retinas.

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“…Patches of PM have been used for several purposes: to produce metal-protein-metal junctions [10][11][12], to perform c-AFM investigations [13,14], to develop solar cells of new generation [15], etc. As a matter of fact, films of bR resist to thermal, electrical and also mechanical stress [10][11][12][13][14] and show a substantial photocurrent when irradiated by a visible (green) light [10,12,16]. Therefore, bR can be used as an optoelectrical switch, to convert radiant energy into electrical energy [15], in pollutants remediation systems [17], to produce optical memories [18], to control neuronal and tissue activity [19,20], etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms responsible for the photocurrent in bacteriorhodopsin

Alfinito

Reggiani

2015

Phys. Rev. E

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Recently, there has been growing interest in the electrical properties of bacteriorhodopsin (bR), a protein belonging to the transmembrane protein family. Several experiments pointed out the role of green light in enhancing the current flow in nanolayers of bR, thus confirming potential applications of this protein in the field of optoelectronics. By contrast, the mechanisms underlying the charge transfer and the associated photocurrent are still far from being understood at a microscopic level. To take into account the structure-dependent nature of the current, in a previous set of papers we suggested a mechanism of sequential tunneling among neighboring amino acids. As a matter of fact, when irradiated with green light, bR undergoes a conformational change at a molecular level. Thus, the role played by the protein tertiary-structure in modeling the charge transfer cannot be neglected. The aim of this paper is to go beyond previous models, in the framework of a new branch of electronics we call proteotronics, which exploits the ability of using proteins as reliable, well-understood materials for the development of novel bioelectronic devices. In particular, the present approach assumes that the conformational change is not the unique transformation the protein undergoes when irradiated by light. Instead, the light can also promote an increase of the protein state free energy that, in turn, should modify its internal degree of connectivity. This phenomenon is here described by the change of the value of an interaction radius associated with the physical interactions among amino acids. The implemented model enables us to achieve a better agreement between theory and experiments in the region of a low applied bias by preserving the level of agreement at high values of applied bias. Furthermore, results provide new insights on the mechanisms responsible for bR photoresponse.

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Enhanced Photocurrent in Engineered Bacteriorhodopsin Monolayer

Cited by 28 publications

References 62 publications

Deposition of Bacteriorhodopsin Protein in a Purple Membrane Form on Nitrocellulose Membranes for Enhanced Photoelectric Response

Deposition of Bacteriorhodopsin Protein in a Purple Membrane Form on Nitrocellulose Membranes for Enhanced Photoelectric Response

Directed evolution of bacteriorhodopsin for applications in bioelectronics

Mechanisms responsible for the photocurrent in bacteriorhodopsin

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