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Jin Y, Fu L. Engineer a double team of short-lived and glucose-sensing bacteria for cancer eradication. Cell Rep Med 2023:101043. [PMID: 37192627 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Rationally designed and engineered bacteria represent an emerging unique approach for cancer treatment. Here, we engineer a short-lived bacterium, mp105, that is effective against diverse cancer types and safe for intravenous administration. We reveal that mp105 combats cancer by direct oncolysis, depletion of tumor-associated macrophages, and elicitation of CD4+ T cell immunity. We further engineer a glucose-sensing bacterium named m6001 that selectively colonizes solid tumors. When intratumorally injected, m6001 clears tumors more efficiently than mp105 due to its post-delivery replication in tumors and potent oncolytic capacity. Finally, we combine intravenous injection of mp105 and intratumoral injection of m6001, forming a double team against cancer. The double team enhances cancer therapy compared with single treatment for subjects carrying both intratumorally injectable and uninjectable tumors. The two anticancer bacteria and their combination are applicable to different scenarios, turning bacterial therapy for cancer into a feasible solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Jin
- New Portal Limited, 130-132 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong.
| | - Li Fu
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Regional Immunity and Diseases, Department of Pharmacology and International Cancer Center, Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
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2
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Han Y, Li C, Yan Y, Lin M, Ke X, Zhang Y, Zhan Y. Post-transcriptional control of bacterial nitrogen metabolism by regulatory noncoding RNAs. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2022; 38:126. [PMID: 35666348 PMCID: PMC9170634 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-022-03287-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Nitrogen metabolism is the most basic process of material and energy metabolism in living organisms, and processes involving the uptake and use of different nitrogen sources are usually tightly regulated at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Bacterial regulatory noncoding RNAs are novel post-transcriptional regulators that repress or activate the expression of target genes through complementarily pairing with target mRNAs; therefore, these noncoding RNAs play an important regulatory role in many physiological processes, such as bacterial substance metabolism and stress response. In recent years, a study found that noncoding RNAs play a vital role in the post-transcriptional regulation of nitrogen metabolism, which is currently a hot topic in the study of bacterial nitrogen metabolism regulation. In this review, we present an overview of recent advances that increase our understanding on the regulatory roles of bacterial noncoding RNAs and describe in detail how noncoding RNAs regulate biological nitrogen fixation and nitrogen metabolic engineering. Furthermore, our goal is to lay a theoretical foundation for better understanding the molecular mechanisms in bacteria that are involved in environmental adaptations and metabolically-engineered genetic modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yueyue Han
- Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Li
- Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yongliang Yan
- Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Min Lin
- Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiubin Ke
- Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yunhua Zhang
- Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. .,School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
| | - Yuhua Zhan
- Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
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3
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Synthetic small regulatory RNAs in microbial metabolic engineering. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 105:1-12. [PMID: 33201273 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-10971-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2020] [Revised: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) finely control gene expression in prokaryotes and synthetic sRNA has become a useful high-throughput approach to tackle current challenges in metabolic engineering because of its many advantages compared to conventional gene knockouts. In this review, we first focus on the modular structures of sRNAs and rational design strategies of synthetic sRNAs on the basis of their modular structures. The wide applications of synthetic sRNAs in bacterial metabolic engineering, with or without the aid of heterogeneously expressed Hfq protein, were also covered. In addition, we give attention to the improvements in implementing synthetic sRNAs, which make the synthetic sRNA strategy universally applicable in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. KEY POINTS: • Synthetic sRNAs can be rationally designed based on modular structures of natural sRNAs. • Synthetic sRNAs were widely used for metabolic engineering in various microorganisms. • Several technological improvements made the synthetic sRNA strategy more applicable.
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Miao S, Wu H, Zhao Y, Caiyin Q, Li Y, Qiao J. Enhancing nisin yield by engineering a small noncodding RNA anti41 and inhibiting the expression of glnR in Lactococcus lactis F44. Biotechnol Lett 2018; 40:941-948. [PMID: 29619745 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-018-2550-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2018] [Accepted: 03/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To engineer a small nonconding RNA anti41 to enhance nisin yield by inhibiting the expression of glnR in Lactococcus lactis F44. RESULTS We constructed a screening library to determine appropriate artificial sRNAs and obtained a sRNA anti41 that can produce approximately three fold of the inhibitory effect on GlnR. Moreover, the transcription levels of the direct inhibitory targets of GlnR (glnP, glnQ, amtB, and glnK) were dramatically upregulated in the anti41 overexpression strain (F44-anti41), thereby confirming the inhibitory effect of anti41 on GlnR. In addition, anti41 overexpression improved the survival rate of cells by approximately three fold under acid stress, promoted cell growth, and increased nisin yield by 29.83%. CONCLUSIONS We were able to provide a novel strategy for the construction of robust high-producing industrial strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sen Miao
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Yue Zhao
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Qinggele Caiyin
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanni Li
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianjun Qiao
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China. .,Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China. .,SynBio Research Platform, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.
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5
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Roßmanith J, Weskamp M, Narberhaus F. Design of a Temperature-Responsive Transcription Terminator. ACS Synth Biol 2018; 7:613-621. [PMID: 29191010 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.7b00356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
RNA structures regulate various steps in gene expression. Transcription in bacteria is typically terminated by stable hairpin structures. Translation initiation can be modulated by metabolite- or temperature-sensitive RNA structures, called riboswitches or RNA thermometers (RNATs), respectively. RNATs control translation initiation by occlusion of the ribosome binding site at low temperatures. Increasing temperatures destabilize the RNA structure and facilitate ribosome access. In this study, we exploited temperature-responsive RNAT structures to design regulatory elements that control transcription termination instead of translation initiation in Escherichia coli. In order to mimic the structure of factor-independent intrinsic terminators, naturally occurring RNAT hairpins were genetically engineered to be followed by a U-stretch. Functional temperature-responsive terminators (thermoterms) prevented mRNA synthesis at low temperatures but resumed transcription after a temperature upshift. The successful design of temperature-controlled terminators highlights the potential of RNA structures as versatile gene expression control elements.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mareen Weskamp
- Microbial Biology, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Franz Narberhaus
- Microbial Biology, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
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Leistra AN, Amador P, Buvanendiran A, Moon-Walker A, Contreras LM. Rational Modular RNA Engineering Based on In Vivo Profiling of Structural Accessibility. ACS Synth Biol 2017; 6:2228-2240. [PMID: 28796489 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.7b00185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial small RNAs (sRNAs) have been established as powerful parts for controlling gene expression. However, development and application of engineered sRNAs has primarily focused on regulating novel synthetic targets. In this work, we demonstrate a rational modular RNA engineering approach that uses in vivo structural accessibility measurements to tune the regulatory activity of a multisubstrate sRNA for differential control of its native target network. Employing the CsrB global sRNA regulator as a model system, we use published in vivo structural accessibility data to infer the contribution of its local structures (substructures) to function and select a subset for engineering. We then modularly recombine the selected substructures, differentially representing those of presumed high or low functional contribution, to build a library of 21 CsrB variants. Using fluorescent translational reporter assays, we demonstrate that the CsrB variants achieve a 5-fold gradient of control of well-characterized Csr network targets. Interestingly, results suggest that less conserved local structures within long, multisubstrate sRNAs may represent better targets for rational engineering than their well-conserved counterparts. Lastly, mapping the impact of sRNA variants on a signature Csr network phenotype indicates the potential of this approach for tuning the activity of global sRNA regulators in the context of metabolic engineering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail N. Leistra
- McKetta
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 200
E. Dean Keeton Street Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Paul Amador
- Microbiology
Graduate Program, University of Texas at Austin, 100 E. 24th Street
Stop A6500, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Aishwarya Buvanendiran
- Biological
Sciences Program College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 120 Inner Campus Drive Stop G2500, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Alex Moon-Walker
- Biological
Sciences Program College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 120 Inner Campus Drive Stop G2500, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Lydia M. Contreras
- McKetta
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 200
E. Dean Keeton Street Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
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7
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Optimization of phage λ promoter strength for synthetic small regulatory RNA-based metabolic engineering. BIOTECHNOL BIOPROC E 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s12257-016-0245-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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8
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Hemolytic E. coli Promotes Colonic Tumorigenesis in Females. Cancer Res 2016; 76:2891-900. [DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-15-2083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2015] [Accepted: 02/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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10
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Peterman N, Lavi-Itzkovitz A, Levine E. Large-scale mapping of sequence-function relations in small regulatory RNAs reveals plasticity and modularity. Nucleic Acids Res 2014; 42:12177-88. [PMID: 25262352 PMCID: PMC4231740 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gku863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Two decades into the genomics era the question of mapping sequence to function has evolved from identifying functional elements to characterizing their quantitative properties including, in particular, their specificity and efficiency. Here, we use a large-scale approach to establish a quantitative map between the sequence of a bacterial regulatory RNA and its efficiency in modulating the expression of its targets. Our approach generalizes the sort-seq method, introduced recently to analyze promoter sequences, in order to accurately quantify the efficiency of a large library of sequence variants. We focus on two small RNAs (sRNAs) in E. coli, DsrA and RyhB, and their regulation of both repressed and activated targets. In addition to precisely identifying functional elements in the sRNAs, our data establish quantitative relationships between structural and energetic features of the sRNAs and their regulatory activity, and characterize a large set of direct and indirect interactions between nucleotides. A core of these interactions supports a model where specificity can be enhanced by a rigid molecular structure. Both sRNAs exhibit a modular design with limited cross-interactions, dividing the requirements for structural stability and target binding among modules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil Peterman
- Department of Physics and FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Anat Lavi-Itzkovitz
- Department of Physics and FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Erel Levine
- Department of Physics and FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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11
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Tripathi L, Zhang Y, Lin Z. Bacterial sigma factors as targets for engineered or synthetic transcriptional control. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2014; 2:33. [PMID: 25232540 PMCID: PMC4153023 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2014.00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2014] [Accepted: 08/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Sigma (σ) factors are the predominant constituents of transcription regulation in bacteria. σ Factors recruit the core RNA polymerase to recognize promoters with specific DNA sequences. Recently, engineering of transcriptional regulators has become a significant tool for strain engineering. The present review summarizes the recent advances in σ factor based engineering or synthetic design. The manipulation of σ factors presents insights into the bacterial stress tolerance and metabolite productivity. We envision more synthetic design based on σ factors that can be used to tune the regulatory network of bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lakshmi Tripathi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing , China
| | - Yan Zhang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing , China
| | - Zhanglin Lin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing , China
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