Carbon-Nanotube-Wrapped Spider Silks for Directed Cardiomyocyte Growth and Electrophysiological Detection.

The combination of nanostructures with biomaterials offers great opportunities in constructing innovative functional devices such as biosensors and actuators. Here, we create a multifunctional fiber by wrapping a thin film of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on naturally found spider silks, which shows great flexibility and conductivity. The hybrid CNT-silk fiber demonstrates intimate contact with cardiomyocytes and can direct the cell growth and simultaneously record potential signals evoked from cell beating. Cell activities reflected in the form of potential signals have been monitored clearly and reliably through the CNT-silk fibers without degradation over the long term.