Engineering protein-based biomaterials is extremely challenging in bioelectronics, medicine, and materials science, as mechanical, electrical, and optical properties need to be merged to biocompatibility and resistance to biodegradation. An effective strategy is the engineering of physiological processes in situ, by addition of new properties to endogenous components. Here we show that a green fluorescent semiconducting thiophene dye, DTTO, promotes, in vivo, the biogenesis of fluorescent conductive protein microfibers via metabolic pathways. By challenging the simple freshwater polyp Hydra vulgaris with DTTO, we demonstrate the stable incorporation of the dye into supramolecular protein-dye co-assembled microfibers without signs of toxicity. An integrated multilevel analysis including morphological, optical, spectroscopical, and electrical characterization shows electrical conductivity of biofibers, opening the door to new opportunities for augmenting electronic functionalities within living tissue, which may be exploited for the regulation of cell and animal physiology, or in pathological contexts to enhance bioelectrical signaling.

在生物电子学，医学和材料科学中，基于蛋白质的生物材料的工程设计极具挑战性，因为机械，电学和光学特性需要兼顾生物相容性和抗生物降解性。一种有效的策略是通过向内源性成分添加新特性来原位设计生理过程。在这里，我们显示绿色的荧光半导体噻吩染料DTTO在体内通过代谢途径促进了荧光导电蛋白微纤维的生物发生。通过挑战简单的淡水息肉九头蛇使用DTTO，我们证明了染料可以稳定地掺入超分子蛋白染料共组装的微纤维中，而没有毒性迹象。包括形态学，光学，光谱学和电学表征在内的综合多级分析显示了生物纤维的电导率，为增强活体组织内电子功能的新机会打开了大门，这可用于调节细胞和动物生理学或病理学增强生物电信号传导的环境。