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Vaknin I, Willinger O, Mandl J, Heuberger H, Ben-Ami D, Zeng Y, Goldberg S, Orenstein Y, Amit R. A universal system for boosting gene expression in eukaryotic cell-lines. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2394. [PMID: 38493141 PMCID: PMC10944472 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46573-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
We demonstrate a transcriptional regulatory design algorithm that can boost expression in yeast and mammalian cell lines. The system consists of a simplified transcriptional architecture composed of a minimal core promoter and a synthetic upstream regulatory region (sURS) composed of up to three motifs selected from a list of 41 motifs conserved in the eukaryotic lineage. The sURS system was first characterized using an oligo-library containing 189,990 variants. We validate the resultant expression model using a set of 43 unseen sURS designs. The validation sURS experiments indicate that a generic set of grammar rules for boosting and attenuation may exist in yeast cells. Finally, we demonstrate that this generic set of grammar rules functions similarly in mammalian CHO-K1 and HeLa cells. Consequently, our work provides a design algorithm for boosting the expression of promoters used for expressing industrially relevant proteins in yeast and mammalian cell lines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inbal Vaknin
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Or Willinger
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Jonathan Mandl
- Department of Computer Science, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Hadar Heuberger
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Dan Ben-Ami
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Yi Zeng
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Sarah Goldberg
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Yaron Orenstein
- Department of Computer Science, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Roee Amit
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
- The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
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Kikuchi N, Willinger O, Granik N, Gal R, Navon N, Ackerman S, Samuel E, Antman T, Katz N, Goldberg S, Amit R. A Cell-Free Assay for Rapid Screening of Inhibitors of hACE2-Receptor-SARS-CoV-2-Spike Binding. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:1389-1396. [PMID: 35377616 PMCID: PMC9003891 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We present a cell-free assay for rapid screening of candidate inhibitors of protein binding, focusing on inhibition of the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor binding domain (RBD) and human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). The assay has two components: fluorescent polystyrene particles covalently coated with RBD, termed virion-particles (v-particles), and fluorescently labeled hACE2 (hACE2F) that binds the v-particles. When incubated with an inhibitor, v-particle-hACE2F binding is diminished, resulting in a reduction in the fluorescent signal of bound hACE2F relative to the noninhibitor control, which can be measured via flow cytometry or fluorescence microscopy. We determine the amount of RBD needed for v-particle preparation, v-particle incubation time with hACE2F, hACE2F detection limit, and specificity of v-particle binding to hACE2F. We measure the dose response of the v-particles to known inhibitors. Finally, utilizing an RNA-binding protein tdPP7 incorporated into hACE2F, we demonstrate that RNA-hACE2F granules trap v-particles effectively, providing a basis for potential RNA-hACE2F therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nanami Kikuchi
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Or Willinger
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Naor Granik
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Reut Gal
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Noa Navon
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Shanny Ackerman
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Ella Samuel
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Tomer Antman
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Noa Katz
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Sarah Goldberg
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Roee Amit
- Department
of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
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Kaufmann B, Willinger O, Kikuchi N, Navon N, Kermas L, Goldberg S, Amit R. An Oligo-Library-Based Approach for Mapping DNA-DNA Triplex Interactions In Vitro. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:1808-1820. [PMID: 34374529 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
We present Triplex-seq, a deep-sequencing method that systematically maps the interaction space between an oligo library of ssDNA triplex-forming oligos (TFOs) and a particular dsDNA triplex target site (TTS). We demonstrate the method using a randomized oligo library comprising 67 million variants, with five TTSs that differ in guanine (G) content, at two different buffer conditions, denoted pH 5 and pH 7. Our results show that G-rich triplexes form at both pH 5 and pH 7, with the pH 5 set being more stable, indicating that there is a subset of TFOs that form triplexes only at pH 5. In addition, using information analysis, we identify triplex-forming motifs (TFMs), which correspond to minimal functional TFO sequences. We demonstrate, in single-variant verification experiments, that TFOs with these TFMs indeed form a triplex with G-rich TTSs, and that a single mutation in the TFM motif can alleviate binding. Our results show that deep-sequencing platforms can substantially expand our understanding of triplex binding rules and aid in refining the DNA triplex code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate Kaufmann
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Or Willinger
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Nanami Kikuchi
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Noa Navon
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Lisa Kermas
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Sarah Goldberg
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Roee Amit
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
- Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
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