Low frequency electrical waves in ensembles of proteinoid microspheres

TL;DR

This study investigates the electrical oscillations in proteinoid microspheres, showing they can generate and modulate electrical activity in response to external electric fields, with potential implications for bioelectric research.

Contribution

It demonstrates that proteinoid microspheres produce tunable electrical spikes and trains, advancing understanding of their bioelectric properties and potential applications.

Findings

Proteinoid microspheres produce electrical spikes averaging 26 min in duration.

Spikes are typically grouped in trains of two.

Electrical activity can be modulated by external electric fields.

Abstract

Proteinoids (thermal proteins) are produced by heating amino acids to their melting point and initiation of polymerisation to produce polymeric chains. Amino acid-like molecules, or proteinoids, can condense at high temperatures to create aggregation structures called proteinoid microspheres, which have been reported to exhibit strong electrical oscillations. When the amino acids L-Glutamic acid (L-Glu) and L-Aspartic acid (L-Asp) were combined with electric fields of varying frequencies and intensities, electrical activity resulted. We recorded electrical activity of the proteinoid microspheres' ensembles via a pair of differential electrodes. This is analogous to extracellular recording in physiology or EEG in neuroscience but at micro-level. We discovered that the ensembles produce spikes of electrical potential, an average duration of each spike is 26 min and average amplitude is 1 mV. The spikes are typically grouped in trains of two spikes. The electrical activity of the ensembles can be tuned by external stimulation because ensembles of proteinoid microspheres can generate and propagate electrical activity when exposed to electric fields.