Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, SE-60174, Norrköping, Sweden.
J Mater Chem B. 2020 May 21;8(19):4221-4227. doi: 10.1039/d0tb00212g. Epub 2020 Mar 13.
Conjugated polymers conduct both electronic and ionic carriers and thus can stimulate and translate biological signals when used as active materials in bioelectronic devices. Self- and on-demand organization of the active material directly in the in vivo environment can result in the seamless integration of the bioelectronic interface. Along that line, we recently demonstrated spontaneous in vivo polymerization of the conjugated oligomer ETE-S in the vascular tissue of plants and the formation of conducting wires. In this work, we elucidate the mechanism of the in vivo polymerization of the ETE-S trimer and demonstrate that ETE-S polymerizes due to an enzymatic reaction where the enzyme peroxidase is the catalyst and hydrogen peroxide is the oxidant. ETE-S, therefore, represents the first example of a conducting polymer that is enzymatically polymerized in vivo. By reproducing the reaction in vitro, we gain further insight on the polymerization mechanism and show that hydrogen peroxide is the limiting factor. In plants the ETE-S triggers the catalytic cycle responsible for the lignification process, hacks this biochemical pathway and integrates within the plant cell wall, forming conductors along the plant structure.
共轭聚合物既能传导电子，也能传导离子，因此，当它们被用作生物电子设备中的活性材料时，可以刺激和转化生物信号。当活性材料在体内环境中自行和按需组织时，生物电子界面可以实现无缝集成。最近，我们在植物的血管组织中证明了共轭低聚物 ETE-S 的自发体内聚合以及导电线的形成。在这项工作中，我们阐明了 ETE-S 三聚体的体内聚合机制，并证明 ETE-S 的聚合是由于酶促反应，其中过氧化物酶是催化剂，过氧化氢是氧化剂。因此，ETE-S 代表了第一个在体内酶促聚合的导电聚合物的例子。通过在体外重现该反应，我们进一步深入了解聚合机制，并表明过氧化氢是限制因素。在植物中，ETE-S 触发了负责木质化过程的催化循环，干扰了这种生化途径，并整合到植物细胞壁中，沿着植物结构形成导体。
