Thermosensory Spiking Activity of Proteinoid Microspheres Cross-Linked by Actin Filaments
Panagiotis Mougkogiannis, Andrew Adamatzky
TL;DR
This paper explores how proteinoid microspheres combined with actin filaments can generate voltage spikes and brain-like signaling without membranes or ion channels.
Contribution
The study introduces hybrid actin-proteinoid networks that exhibit stable, life-like signal encoding and improved coordination in synthetic protocell systems.
Findings
Proteinoid microspheres produce voltage spikes and brain-like excitation dynamics without membranes or ion channels.
Adding actin filaments reduces spike timing variability and enhances coordination in hybrid networks.
Temperature changes regulate conduction states, enabling external control over emergent excitability in protobrain systems.
Abstract
Actin, found in all eukaryotic cells as globular (G) or filamentous (F) actin, undergoes polymerization, with G-actin units changing shape to become F-actin. Thermal proteins, or proteinoids, are created by heating amino acids (160–200 °C), forming polymeric chains. These proteinoids can swell in an aqueous solution at around 50 °C, producing hollow microspheres filled with a solution, exhibiting voltage spikes. Our research explores the signaling properties of proteinoids, actin filaments, and hybrid networks combining actin and proteinoids. Proteinoids replicate brain excitation dynamics despite lacking specific membranes or ion channels. We investigate enhancing conductivity and spiking by using pure actin, yielding improved coordination in networks compared with individual filaments or proteinoids. Temperature changes (20 short-peptide supramolecular C to 80 °C) regulate conduction…
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Taxonomy
TopicsLinguistics and language evolution · Classical Antiquity Studies