Electrical properties of the plasma membrane of microplasmodia of Physarum polycephalum

Functional fusion of living systems with synthetic electrode interfaces

The functional fusion of "living" biomaterial (such as cells) with synthetic systems has developed into a principal ambition for various scientific disciplines. In particular, emerging fields such as bionics and nanomedicine integrate advanced nanomaterials with biomolecules, cells and organisms in order to develop novel strategies for applications, including energy production or real-time diagnostics utilizing biomolecular machineries "perfected" during billion years of evolution. To date, hardware-wetware interfaces that sample or modulate bioelectric potentials, such as neuroprostheses or implantable energy harvesters, are mostly based on microelectrodes brought into the closest possible contact with the targeted cells. Recently, the possibility of using electrochemical gradients of the inner ear for technical applications was demonstrated using implanted electrodes, where 1.12 nW of electrical power was harvested from the guinea pig endocochlear potential for up to 5 h (Mercier, P.; Lysaght, A.; Bandyopadhyay, S.; Chandrakasan, A.; Stankovic, K. Nat. Biotech. 2012, 30, 1240-1243). More recent approaches employ nanowires (NWs) able to penetrate the cellular membrane and to record extra- and intracellular electrical signals, in some cases with subcellular resolution (Spira, M.; Hai, A. Nat. Nano. 2013, 8, 83-94). Such techniques include nanoelectric scaffolds containing free-standing silicon NWs (Robinson, J. T.; Jorgolli, M.; Shalek, A. K.; Yoon, M. H.; Gertner, R. S.; Park, H. Nat Nanotechnol. 2012, 10, 180-184) or NW field-effect transistors (Qing, Q.; Jiang, Z.; Xu, L.; Gao, R.; Mai, L.; Lieber, C. Nat. Nano. 2013, 9, 142-147), vertically aligned gallium phosphide NWs (Hällström, W.; Mårtensson, T.; Prinz, C.; Gustavsson, P.; Montelius, L.; Samuelson, L.; Kanje, M. Nano Lett. 2007, 7, 2960-2965) or individually contacted, electrically active carbon nanofibers. The latter of these approaches is capable of recording electrical responses from oxidative events occurring in intercellular regions of neuronal cultures (Zhang, D.; Rand, E.; Marsh, M.; Andrews, R.; Lee, K.; Meyyappan, M.; Koehne, J. Mol. Neurobiol. 2013, 48, 380-385). Employing monocrystalline gold, nanoelectrode interfaces, we have now achieved stable, functional access to the electrochemical machinery of individual Physarum polycephalum slime mold cells. We demonstrate the "symbionic" union, allowing for electrophysiological measurements, functioning as autonomous sensors and capable of producing nanowatts of electric power. This represents a further step towards the future development of groundbreaking, cell-based technologies, such as bionic sensory systems or miniaturized energy sources to power various devices, or even "intelligent implants", constantly refueled by their surrounding nutrients.

Slime mould processors, logic gates and sensors

A heterotic, or hybrid, computation implies that two or more substrates of different physical nature are merged into a single device with indistinguishable parts. These hybrid devices then undertake coherent acts on programmable and sensible processing of information. We study the potential of heterotic computers using slime mould acting under the guidance of chemical, mechanical and optical stimuli. Plasmodium of acellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a gigantic single cell visible to the unaided eye. The cell shows a rich spectrum of behavioural morphological patterns in response to changing environmental conditions. Given data represented by chemical or physical stimuli, we can employ and modify the behaviour of the slime mould to make it solve a range of computing and sensing tasks. We overview results of laboratory experimental studies on prototyping of the slime mould morphological processors for approximation of Voronoi diagrams, planar shapes and solving mazes, and discuss logic gates implemented via collision of active growing zones and tactile responses of P. polycephalum. We also overview a range of electronic components--memristor, chemical, tactile and colour sensors-made of the slime mould.

Toward Hybrid Nanostructure-Slime Mould Devices

The plasmodium of slime mould Physarum polycephalum has recently received significant attention for its value as a highly malleable amorphous computing substrate. In laboratory-based experiments, nanoscale artificial circuit components were introduced into the P. polycephalum plasmdodium to investigate the electrical properties and computational abilities of hybridized slime mould. It was found through a combination of imaging techniques and electrophysiological measurements that P. polycephalum is able to internalize a range of electrically active nanoparticles (NPs), assemble them in vivo and distribute them around the plasmodium. Hybridized plasmodium is able to form biomorphic mineralized networks inside the living plasmodium and the empty trails left following its migration, both of which facilitate the transmission of electricity. Hybridization also alters the bioelectrical activity of the plasmodium and likely influences its information processing capabilities. It was concluded that hybridized slime mould is a suitable substrate for producing functional unconventional computing devices.

Towards plant wires

In experimental laboratory studies we evaluate a possibility of making electrical wires from living plants. In scoping experiments we use lettuce seedlings as a prototype model of a plant wire. We approximate an electrical potential transfer function by applying direct current voltage to the lettuce seedlings and recording output voltage. We analyse oscillation frequencies of the output potential and assess noise immunity of the plant wires. Our findings will be used in future designs of self-growing wetware circuits and devices, and integration of plant-based electronic components into future and emergent bio-hybrid systems.

ON ELECTRICAL CORRELATES OF PHYSARUM POLYCEPHALUM SPATIAL ACTIVITY: CAN WE SEE PHYSARUM MACHINE IN THE DARK?

Plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum is a single cell visible by unaided eye, which spans sources of nutrients with its protoplasmic network. In a very simple experimental setup we recorded electric potential of the propagating plasmodium. We discovered a complex interplay of short range oscillatory behavior combined with long range, low frequency oscillations which serve to communicate information between different parts of the plasmodium. The plasmodium's response to changing environmental conditions forms basis patterns of electric activity, which are unique indicators of the following events: plasmodium occupies a site, plasmodium functions normally, plasmodium becomes "agitated" due to drying substrate, plasmodium departs a site, and plasmodium forms sclerotium. Using a collective particle approximation of Physarum polycephalum we found matching correlates of electrical potential in computational simulations by measuring local population flux at the node positions, generating trains of high and low frequency oscillatory behavior. Motifs present in these measurements matched the response "grammar" of the plasmodium when encountering new nodes, simulated consumption of nutrients, exposure to simulated hazardous illumination and sclerotium formation. The distributed computation of the particle collective was able to calculate beneficial network structures and sclerotium position by shifting the active growth zone of the simulated plasmodium. The results show future promise for the non-invasive study of the complex dynamical behavior within — and health status of — living systems.

Electrokinetics of miniature K+ channel: open-state V sensitivity and inhibition by K+ driving force

Kcv, isolated from a Chlorella virus, is the smallest known K+ channel. When Kcv is expressed in Xenopus oocytes and exposed to 50 mM: [K+](o), its open-state current-voltage relationship (I-V) has the shape of a "tilted S" between -200 and +120 mV. Details of this shape depend on the conditioning voltage (V (c)) immediately before an I-V recording. Unexpectedly, the I-V relationships, recorded in different [K+](o), do intersect. These characteristics are numerically described here by fits of a kinetic model to the experimental data. In this model, the V (c) sensitivity of I-V is mainly assigned to an affinity increase of external K+ association at more positive voltages. The general, tilted-S shape as well as the unexpected intersections of the I-V relationships are kinetically described by a decrease of the cord conductance by the electrochemical driving force for K+ in either direction, like in fast V-dependent blocking by competing ions.

Current-voltage-time records of ion translocating enzymes

Membrane currents, as non-linear functions of membrane voltage, V, and time, t, can be recorded quickly by triangular V protocols. From the differences, d I(V, t), of these relationships upon addition of a putative substrate of a charge-translocating membrane protein, the I(V, t) relationships of the transporter itself can be determined. These relationships likely comprise a steady-state component, I(a)(V), of the active transporter, and a dynamic component, p(a)(V, t), of its V- and time-dependent activity, p(a). Here, the steady-state component is modeled by a central reaction cycle, which senses a fraction delta(tr) of the total V, whereas 1-delta(tr) can be assigned to an inner and outer pore section with delta(i) and delta(o), respectively (delta(i)+delta(tr)+delta(o) = 1). For the enzymatic cycle, fast binding/debinding is assumed, plus V-sensitive and -insensitive reaction steps which may become rate limiting for charge translocation. At given substrate concentrations, I(a)(V) is defined by eight independent system parameters, including a coefficient for the barrier shape of charge translocation. In ordinary cases, the behavior of p(a)(V, t) can be described by two rate constants (for activation and inactivation) and their respective V-sensitivity coefficients. Here, the effects of the individual system parameters on I(V, t) from triangular V-clamp experiments are investigated systematically. The results are illustrated by panels of typical curve shapes for non-gated and gated transporters to enable a first classification of mechanisms. We demonstrate that all system parameters can be determined fairly well by fitting the model to "experimental" data of known origin. Applicability of the model to channels, pumps and cotransporters is discussed.

Cation-selective channels in the vacuolar membrane of Saccharomyces: dependence on calcium, redox state, and voltage

The vacuolar membrane of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is proposed as a system for functional expression of membrane proteins, was examined by patch-clamp techniques. Its most conspicuous feature, in the absence of energizing substrates, is a cation channel with a characteristic conductance of approximately 120 pS for symmetric 100 mM KCl solutions and with little selectivity between K+ and Na+ (PNa+/PK+ approximately 1) but strong selectivity for cations over anions (PCl-/PK+ less than 0.1). Channel gating is voltage-dependent; open probability, Po, reaches maximum (approximately 0.7) at a transmembrane voltage of -80 mV (cytoplasmic surface negative) and declines at both more negative and more positive voltages (i.e., to 0 around +80 mV). The time-averaged current-voltage curve shows strong rectification, with negative currents (positive charges flowing from vacuolar side to cytoplasmic side) much larger than positive currents. The open probability also depends strongly on cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration but, for ordinary recording conditions, is high only at unphysiologically high (greater than or equal to 1 mM) Ca2+. However, reducing agents such as dithiothreitol and 2-mercaptoethanol poise the channels so that they can be activated by micromolar cytoplasmic Ca2+. The channels are blocked irreversibly by chloramine T, which is known to oxidize exposed methionine and cysteine residues specifically.

Cyclic AMP induces a transient alkalinization in Dictyostelium

In a wide range of cell types, stimulus-response coupling is accompanied by a rise in cytoplasmic pH (pHi). It is shown that stimulation of developing Dictyostelium discoideum cells with the chemoattractant cAMP also results in a rise in pHi. About 1.5 min after stimulation, pHi starts increasing from pHi approximately 7.45 to pHi approximately 7.60, as is revealed independently by two different pH null-point methods. The rise in pHi is transient, also with a persistent stimulus, and effectively inhibited by diethylstilbestrol (DES), strongly suggesting that the rise in pHi is accomplished by the DES-sensitive plasma membrane proton pump which has been demonstrated in D. discoideum.

Intracellular pH and the control of cell differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum

During development in the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum starved amoebae aggregate to form multicellular structures that display a simple antero-posterior pattern: prestalk cells occupy the front 20% of the aggregate, and prespore cells occupy the remainder. We have attempted to elucidate the nature of the mechanism regulating the proportions of the two cell types by examining the factors that influence the pathway of differentiation of amoebae in vitro. Amoebae of D. discoideum strain V12 M2 form stalk cells efficiently in appropriate conditions and 'sporogenous' derivatives produce spores as well as stalk cells. Mature spores are formed in a medium containing only cyclic AMP and salts, whereas formation of stalk cells requires, in addition, a low molecular weight hydrophobic factor (DIF). Recent observations have led us to propose that DIF is a morphogen responsible for activating stalk cell differentiation. Here we present evidence that ammonia is a second morphogen, that acts antagonistically to DIF, and that the choice of differentiation pathway is mediated by intracellular pH.