Electric fields as physical switches for proteins: researchers from the CAS summarise their groundbreaking research

Proteins are the fundamental “workers” of every living cell: they facilitate digestion, signal transmission in the brain, muscle movement, and the body’s defense mechanisms. “A properly configured electric field can precisely and reversibly retune these molecules, changing their shape, movement, and function – all without any physical contact and without a single chemical substance,” says Michal Cifra, lead author of the study and head of the Bioelectrodynamics research team at the Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

According to him, this approach opens up fascinating possibilities, ranging from more environmentally friendly food processing and new methods of electrostimulation to ultra-fast imaging of biomolecules and the development of an entirely new generation of bionanotechnology devices. “Imagine if it were possible to control the behavior of proteins in living cells using an electric field, much like turning a light on and off with a switch,” adds Michal Cifra.

More complex than it seems

However, electric fields do not act on proteins only directly. Indirect effects mediated by the surrounding environment, such as through water molecules or ions dissolved in the cellular solution, also play a major role.

“The path from the laboratory to practical application necessarily involves a deep understanding of these mechanisms,” notes Michal Cifra. Only once scientists understand exactly how and through which pathways the electric field actually exerts its influence on the protein will they be able to specifically design its optimal form with the correct shape, frequency, and intensity to achieve the precisely desired effect and avoid unwanted side effects.

Electric fields offer a completely new way to control proteins: no chemicals, no contact, and an immediate response. “However, for this idea to work in practice, we must first truly understand how electric fields act at the molecular level. Our work shows that the effects are not always straightforward, because the fields also act through the surrounding environment, and that is precisely what we need to be able to predict and exploit,” explains Michal Cifra.

Further challenges

His team is now conducting research on the use of motor proteins. These proteins are responsible for converting chemical energy, which is stored in ATP (adenosine triphosphate) as the energy currency of all living cells, into mechanical work. The scientists aim to use various forms of electric and electromagnetic fields to control these proteins, which act as molecular motors and enable cell movement as well as transport within cells.

“The advantage is that we can immediately observe the effect of the electric field on their function based on changes in position caused by nanomechanical forces,” says Michal Cifra. “Another major challenge is to formulate general physical rules governing the effect of an electric field on proteins so that, based solely on the protein’s structure, we can predict how it will respond to an external electric field,” the scientist concludes.

A study by a team from the Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the CAS was first published online in April. Now, the journal Chemical Society Reviews has also included it in its print edition and featured it on the cover.