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Bioelectronic Synergy Lab

2025

Research article Science Advances

Bioprinted Optoelectronically Active Cardiac Tissues

Two-step process for making bioprinted optoelectronically active cardiac tissue: bioprinting a bioink of microscale solar cells suspended in GelMA into an optoelectronically active scaffold, then seeding it with cardiomyocytes, with insets of the printed micro-solar cells and cells.

Authors

F. Ershad† , Z. Rao† , S. Maharajan† , F. C. Paccola Mesquita , J. Ha , L. Gonzalez , T. Haideri , E. Curty da Costa , A. Moctezuma-Ramirez , Y. Wang , S. Jang , Y. Lu , S. Patel , X. Wang , Y. Tao , J. Weygant , C. Garciamendez-Mijares , L. C. Orrantia Clark , M. Zubair , X. Lian , A. Elgalad , J. Yang , C. Hochman-Mendez , Y. S. Zhang , C. Yu

† These authors contributed equally.

Abstract

Electrical stimulation of existing three-dimensional bioprinted tissues to alter tissue activities is typically associated with wired delivery, invasive electrode placement, and potential cell damage, minimizing its efficacy in cardiac modulation. Here, we report an optoelectronically active scaffold based on printed gelatin methacryloyl embedded with micro-solar cells, seeded with cardiomyocytes to form light-stimulable tissues. This enables untethered, noninvasive, and damage-free optoelectronic stimulation–induced modulation of cardiac beating behaviors without needing wires or genetic modifications to the tissue solely with light. Pulsed light stimulation of human cardiomyocytes showed that the optoelectronically active scaffold could increase their beating rates (>40%), maintain high cell viability under light stimulation (>96%), and negligibly affect the electrocardiogram morphology. The seeded scaffolds, termed optoelectronically active tissues, were able to successfully accelerate heart beating in vivo in rats. Our work demonstrates a viable wireless, printable, and optically controllable tissue, suggesting a transformative step in future therapy of electrically active tissues/organs.

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Cite this paper

F. Ershad, Z. Rao, S. Maharajan, F. C. Paccola Mesquita, J. Ha, L. Gonzalez, T. Haideri, E. Curty da Costa, A. Moctezuma-Ramirez, Y. Wang, S. Jang, Y. Lu, S. Patel, X. Wang, Y. Tao, J. Weygant, C. Garciamendez-Mijares, L. C. Orrantia Clark, M. Zubair, X. Lian, A. Elgalad, J. Yang, C. Hochman-Mendez, Y. S. Zhang, C. Yu (2025). Bioprinted Optoelectronically Active Cardiac Tissues. Science Advances 11(4), eadt7210. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt7210

BibTeX · Ershad2025BioprintedOptoelectronically

@article{Ershad2025BioprintedOptoelectronically,
  title = {{Bioprinted Optoelectronically Active Cardiac Tissues}},
  author = {F. Ershad and Z. Rao and S. Maharajan and F. C. Paccola Mesquita and J. Ha and L. Gonzalez and T. Haideri and E. Curty da Costa and A. Moctezuma-Ramirez and Y. Wang and S. Jang and Y. Lu and S. Patel and X. Wang and Y. Tao and J. Weygant and C. Garciamendez-Mijares and L. C. Orrantia Clark and M. Zubair and X. Lian and A. Elgalad and J. Yang and C. Hochman-Mendez and Y. S. Zhang and C. Yu},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2025},
  volume = {11},
  number = {4},
  pages = {eadt7210},
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.adt7210},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt7210},
}

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