Optoregulated Protein Release from an Engineered Living Material

An engineered living material for light-regulated protein release is realized by combining optogenetics, bacterial protein secretion and hydrogels. Hydrogel-immobilized bacteria are optogenetically programmed to express and secrete a fluorescent protein in response to light irradiation. Using light, tunability and localized confinement of protein expression along with dosing of protein release are demonstrated.