Abstract

Cephalopods possess unrivaled camouflage and signaling abilities that are enabled by their complex skin architecture, which contain optically active cells and organs. The optical functionality of these cells (and thus cephalopod skin) is enabled by subcellular structures, which are partially composed of a unique class of structural proteins known as reflectins. Our laboratory has pioneered the study of reflectins as biomolecular markers with intrinsic refractive index (RI) contrast [1,2]. Recently, we have demonstrated the genetic engineering of the refractive index of mammalian cells with reflectins and studied the light-manipulating capabilities of cells containing reflectin-based photonic architectures [1]. Moreover, we have reported the molecular-level structure of a model reflectin variant and discovered robust relationships between the secondary structure/assembly state and RI for this variant by leveraging holotomography [2]. Taken together, our findings may open new possibilities for quantitative phase imaging modalities and hold exciting implications for biophotonic, bioelectronic, and biomedical applications.

© 2021 The Author(s)