Authors and Affiliations

Authors and Affiliations

Byeongho Park^1,2, Heehong Yang^3,4, Tai Hwan Ha⁵, Hyun Seo Park¹, Seung Ja Oh¹, Yong-Sang Ryu¹, Youngho Cho^1,6, Hyo-Suk Kim^1,7, Juyeong Oh^1,2, Dong Kyu Lee¹, Chulki Kim¹, Taikjin Lee¹, Minah Seo¹, Jaebin Choi¹, Young Min Jhon¹, Deok Ha Woo¹, Seok Lee¹, Seok Hwan Kim⁸, Hyuk-Jae Lee⁶, Seong Chan Jun², Hyun Seok Song^9,10,11,*, Tai Hyun Park^3,* and Jae Hun Kim<sup>1,*

1</sup>Korean Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea

²Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea

³School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea

⁴Protein Engineering Laboratory, Recombinants Unit, MOGAM Institute for Biomedical Research, Yongin 16924, Republic of Korea

⁵Hazards Monitoring Bionanotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea

⁶College of Science and Technology, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Republic of Korea

⁷Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Kwang-woon University, Seoul 01890, Republic of Korea

⁸Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University Boramae Hospital, Seoul 07061, Republic of Korea

⁹Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Republic of Korea

¹⁰Center for Convergent Research of Emerging Virus Infection, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea

¹¹Department of Bio-Analytical Science, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea

B.P. and H.Y. contributed equally to this work.

^*To whom correspondence may be addressed.

Photosensitive materials contain biologically engineered elements and are constructed using delicate techniques, with special attention devoted to efficiency, stability, and biocompatibility. However, to date, no photosensitive material has been developed to replace damaged visual-systems to detect light and transmit the signal to a neuron in the human body. In the current study, artificial nanovesicle-based photosensitive materials are observed to possess the characteristics of photoreceptors similar to the human eye. The materials exhibit considerably effective spectral characteristics according to each pigment. Four photoreceptors originating from the human eye with color-distinguishability are produced in human embryonic kidney (HEK)-293 cells and partially purified in the form of nanovesicles. Under various wavelengths of visible light, electrochemical measurements are performed to analyze the physiological behavior and kinetics of the photoreceptors, with graphene, performing as an electrode, playing an important role in the lipid bilayer deposition and oxygen reduction processes. Four nanovesicles with different photoreceptors, namely, rhodopsin (Rho), short-, medium-, and longwave sensitive opsin 1 (1SW, 1MW, 1LW), show remarkable color-dependent characteristics, consistent with those of natural human retina. With four different light-emitting diodes for functional verification, the photoreceptors embedded in nanovesicles show remarkably specific color sensitivity. This study demonstrates the potential applications of light-activated platforms in biological optoelectronic industries.