Photo-Powered Artificial Organelles for ATP Generation and Life-Sustainment.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the most important immediate energy source for driving intracellular biochemical reactions in nearly all life forms. Controllable generation of ATP in life is still an unrealized goal. Here, thylakoid fragments are recombined with lipid molecules to synthesize a synthetic/biological hybrid proteoliposome, named highly efficient life-support intracellular opto-driven system (HELIOS) for the generation of ATP. With red light irradiation, HELIOS can improve the intracellular ATP concentration to 1.38-2.45 times in various cell lines. Moreover, it is noticed that HELIOS-mediated ATP generation can comprehensively promote cell functions such as protein synthesis and insulin secretion. At organ and individual levels, it is also proved that HELIOS can rescue a mouse heart from myocardial infarction and sustain life of fasting zebrafish Danio rerio models. The photo-powered artificial organelle can deepen our understanding of metabolism and enable the development of optical therapy that targets intracellular energy supply.