Transplanting light-dependent reactions for mammalian eye photosynthesis
Summary
Mammalian eyes are exposed to visible light but cannot perform photosynthesis. Here, we show that introducing a nanoscale, structurally and functionally preserved thylakoid system, LEAF (light-reaction enriched thylakoid NADPH-foundry), into corneal cells enables light-driven bona fide photosynthetic production of NADPH and ATP, similar to plant leaves, which alleviates oxidative stress and inflammation. LEAF acts in two domains. Intracellularly, it integrates with host cells to supply NAD
Content
# Transplanting light-dependent reactions for mammalian eye photosynthesis
*Published: 2026 May 15*
Mammalian eyes are exposed to visible light but cannot perform photosynthesis.
Here, we show that introducing a nanoscale, structurally and functionally
preserved thylakoid system, LEAF (light-reaction enriched thylakoid
NADPH-foundry), into corneal cells enables light-driven bona fide photosynthetic
production of NADPH and ATP, similar to plant leaves, which alleviates oxidative
stress and inflammation. LEAF acts in two domains. Intracellularly, it
integrates with host cells to supply NADPH and ATP via intact photosynthetic
electron transport, restoring redox balance. Extracellularly, photosynthesized
NADPH enhances endogeneous antioxidant enzyme activity and reduces reactive
oxygen species in the local environment. These results establish a strategy for
using light as an energy input in mammalian metabolic systems and suggest a
possible cross-kingdom, endosymbiosis-like interaction in which animal cells
derive functional benefits from plant-derived photosynthetic neo-organelles.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.04.034