1
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Van Den Berghe M, Walworth NG, Dalvie NC, Dupont CL, Springer M, Andrews MG, Romaniello SJ, Hutchins DA, Montserrat F, Silver PA, Nealson KH. Microbial Catalysis for CO 2 Sequestration: A Geobiological Approach. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2024; 16:a041673. [PMID: 37788887 PMCID: PMC11065169 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
One of the greatest threats facing the planet is the continued increase in excess greenhouse gasses, with CO2 being the primary driver due to its rapid increase in only a century. Excess CO2 is exacerbating known climate tipping points that will have cascading local and global effects including loss of biodiversity, global warming, and climate migration. However, global reduction of CO2 emissions is not enough. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will also be needed to avoid the catastrophic effects of global warming. Although the drawdown and storage of CO2 occur naturally via the coupling of the silicate and carbonate cycles, they operate over geological timescales (thousands of years). Here, we suggest that microbes can be used to accelerate this process, perhaps by orders of magnitude, while simultaneously producing potentially valuable by-products. This could provide both a sustainable pathway for global drawdown of CO2 and an environmentally benign biosynthesis of materials. We discuss several different approaches, all of which involve enhancing the rate of silicate weathering. We use the silicate mineral olivine as a case study because of its favorable weathering properties, global abundance, and growing interest in CDR applications. Extensive research is needed to determine both the upper limit of the rate of silicate dissolution and its potential to economically scale to draw down significant amounts (Mt/Gt) of CO2 Other industrial processes have successfully cultivated microbial consortia to provide valuable services at scale (e.g., wastewater treatment, anaerobic digestion, fermentation), and we argue that similar economies of scale could be achieved from this research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nathan G Walworth
- Vesta, San Francisco, California 94114, USA
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, USA
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
| | - Neil C Dalvie
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Chris L Dupont
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
- Department of Human Biology and Genomic Medicine, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
| | - Michael Springer
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | | | | | - David A Hutchins
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, USA
| | | | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Kenneth H Nealson
- Vesta, San Francisco, California 94114, USA
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, USA
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2
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Jones E, Su Y, Sander C, Justman QA, Springer M, Silver PA. LanTERN: A Fluorescent Sensor That Specifically Responds to Lanthanides. ACS Synth Biol 2024; 13:958-962. [PMID: 38377571 PMCID: PMC10949232 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00600] [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: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Lanthanides, a series of 15 f-block elements, are crucial in modern technology, and their purification by conventional chemical means comes at a significant environmental cost. Synthetic biology offers promising solutions. However, progress in developing synthetic biology approaches is bottlenecked because it is challenging to measure lanthanide binding with current biochemical tools. Here we introduce LanTERN, a lanthanide-responsive fluorescent protein. LanTERN was designed based on GCaMP, a genetically encoded calcium indicator that couples the ion binding of four EF hand motifs to increased GFP fluorescence. We engineered eight mutations across the parent construct's four EF hand motifs to switch specificity from calcium to lanthanides. The resulting protein, LanTERN, directly converts the binding of 10 measured lanthanides to 14-fold or greater increased fluorescence. LanTERN development opens new avenues for creating improved lanthanide-binding proteins and biosensing systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan
M. Jones
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss
Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Yang Su
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Chris Sander
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Quincey A. Justman
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Michael Springer
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss
Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss
Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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3
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Ng TL, Silver PA. Sustainable B 12-Dependent Dehalogenation of Organohalides in E. coli. ACS Chem Biol 2024; 19:380-391. [PMID: 38254247 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Microbial bioremediation can provide an environmentally friendly and scalable solution to treat contaminated soil and water. However, microbes have yet to optimize pathways for degrading persistent anthropogenic pollutants, in particular organohalides. In this work, we first expand our repertoire of enzymes useful for bioremediation. By screening a panel of cobalamin (B12)-dependent reductive dehalogenases, we identified previously unreported enzymes that dechlorinate perchloroethene and regioselectively deiodinate the thyroidal disruptor 2,4,6-triiodophenol. One deiodinase, encoded by the animal-associated anaerobe Clostridioides difficile, was demonstrated to dehalogenate the naturally occurring metabolites L-halotyrosines. In cells, several combinations of ferredoxin oxidoreductase and flavodoxin extract and transfer low-potential electrons from pyruvate to drive reductive dehalogenation without artificial reductants and mediators. This work provides new insights into a relatively understudied family of B12-dependent enzymes and sets the stage for engineering synthetic pathways for degrading unnatural small molecule pollutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tai L Ng
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute of Biologically-Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute of Biologically-Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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4
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Jones EM, Marken JP, Silver PA. Synthetic microbiology in sustainability applications. Nat Rev Microbiol 2024:10.1038/s41579-023-01007-9. [PMID: 38253793 DOI: 10.1038/s41579-023-01007-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Microorganisms are a promising means to address many societal sustainability challenges owing to their ability to thrive in diverse environments and interface with the microscale chemical world via diverse metabolic capacities. Synthetic biology can engineer microorganisms by rewiring their regulatory networks or introducing new functionalities, enhancing their utility for target applications. In this Review, we provide a broad, high-level overview of various research efforts addressing sustainability challenges through synthetic biology, emphasizing foundational microbiological research questions that can accelerate the development of these efforts. We introduce an organizational framework that categorizes these efforts along three domains - factory, farm and field - that are defined by the extent to which the engineered microorganisms interface with the natural external environment. Different application areas within the same domain share many fundamental challenges, highlighting productive opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaborations between researchers working in historically disparate fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan M Jones
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - John P Marken
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Resnick Sustainability Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
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5
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Lim S, Yocum RR, Silver PA, Way JC. High spontaneous integration rates of end-modified linear DNAs upon mammalian cell transfection. Sci Rep 2023; 13:6835. [PMID: 37100816 PMCID: PMC10133325 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33862-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In gene therapy, potential integration of therapeutic transgene into host cell genomes is a serious risk that can lead to insertional mutagenesis and tumorigenesis. Viral vectors are often used as the gene delivery vehicle, but they are prone to undergoing integration events. More recently, non-viral delivery of linear DNAs having modified geometry such as closed-end linear duplex DNA (CELiD) have shown promise as an alternative, due to prolonged transgene expression and less cytotoxicity. However, whether modified-end linear DNAs can also provide a safe, non-integrating gene transfer remains unanswered. Herein, we compare the genomic integration frequency upon transfection of cells with expression vectors in the forms of circular plasmid, unmodified linear DNA, CELiDs with thioester loops, and Streptavidin-conjugated blocked-end linear DNA. All of the forms of linear DNA resulted in a high fraction of the cells being stably transfected-between 10 and 20% of the initially transfected cells. These results indicate that blocking the ends of linear DNA is insufficient to prevent integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Lim
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - R Rogers Yocum
- General Biologics, Inc, 108 Fayerweather Street, Unit 2, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- General Biologics, Inc, 108 Fayerweather Street, Unit 2, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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6
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Quek RT, Hardy KS, Walker SG, Nguyen DT, de Almeida
Magalhães T, Salic A, Gopalakrishnan SM, Silver PA, Mitchison TJ. Screen for Modulation of Nucleocapsid Protein Condensation Identifies Small Molecules with Anti-Coronavirus Activity. ACS Chem Biol 2023; 18:583-594. [PMID: 36795767 PMCID: PMC9942534 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Biomolecular condensates formed by liquid-liquid phase separation have been implicated in multiple diseases. Modulation of condensate dynamics by small molecules has therapeutic potential, but so far, few condensate modulators have been disclosed. The SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein forms phase-separated condensates that are hypothesized to play critical roles in viral replication, transcription, and packaging, suggesting that N condensation modulators might have anti-coronavirus activity across multiple strains and species. Here, we show that N proteins from all seven human coronaviruses (HCoVs) vary in their tendency to undergo phase separation when expressed in human lung epithelial cells. We developed a cell-based high-content screening platform and identified small molecules that both promote and inhibit condensation of SARS-CoV-2 N. Interestingly, these host-targeted small molecules exhibited condensate-modulatory effects across all HCoV Ns. Some have also been reported to exhibit antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-229E viral infections in cell culture. Our work reveals that the assembly dynamics of N condensates can be regulated by small molecules with therapeutic potential. Our approach allows for screening based on viral genome sequences alone and might enable rapid paths to drug discovery with value for confronting future pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Tong Quek
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United
States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering,
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115,
United States
| | - Kierra S. Hardy
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United
States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering,
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115,
United States
| | - Stephen G. Walker
- Drug Discovery Science and Technology,
AbbVie Inc., North Chicago, Illinois 60064, United
States
| | - Dan T. Nguyen
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United
States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering,
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115,
United States
| | | | - Adrian Salic
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United
States
| | | | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United
States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering,
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115,
United States
| | - Timothy J. Mitchison
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United
States
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7
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Way JC, Burrill DR, Silver PA. Bioinspired Design of Artificial Signaling Systems. Biochemistry 2023; 62:178-186. [PMID: 35984429 PMCID: PMC9851155 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Natural systems use weak interactions and avidity effects to give biological systems high specificity and signal-to-noise ratios. Here we describe design principles for engineering fusion proteins that target therapeutic fusion proteins to membrane-bound signaling receptors by first binding to designer-chosen co-receptors on the same cell surface. The key design elements are separate protein modules, one that has no signaling activity and binds to a cell surface receptor with high affinity and a second that binds to a receptor with low or moderate affinity and carries out a desired signaling or inhibitory activity. These principles are inspired by natural cytokines such as CNTF, IL-2, and IL-4 that bind strongly to nonsignaling receptors and then signal through low-affinity receptors. Such designs take advantage of the fact that when a protein is anchored to a cell membrane, its local concentration is extremely high with respect to those of other membrane proteins, so a second-step, low-affinity binding event is favored. Protein engineers have used these principles to design treatments for cancer, anemia, hypoxia, and HIV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey C. Way
- General
Biologics, Inc., 108
Fayerweather Street, Unit 2, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
| | - Devin R. Burrill
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 210 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 210 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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8
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Ng TL, Olson EJ, Yoo TY, Weiss HS, Koide Y, Koch PD, Rollins NJ, Mach P, Meisinger T, Bricken T, Chang TZ, Molloy C, Zürcher J, Chang RL, Mitchison TJ, Glass JI, Marks DS, Way JC, Silver PA. High-Content Screening and Computational Prediction Reveal Viral Genes That Suppress the Innate Immune Response. mSystems 2022; 7:e0146621. [PMID: 35319251 PMCID: PMC9040872 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01466-21] [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: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Suppression of the host innate immune response is a critical aspect of viral replication. Upon infection, viruses may introduce one or more proteins that inhibit key immune pathways, such as the type I interferon pathway. However, the ability to predict and evaluate viral protein bioactivity on targeted pathways remains challenging and is typically done on a single-virus or -gene basis. Here, we present a medium-throughput high-content cell-based assay to reveal the immunosuppressive effects of viral proteins. To test the predictive power of our approach, we developed a library of 800 genes encoding known, predicted, and uncharacterized human virus genes. We found that previously known immune suppressors from numerous viral families such as Picornaviridae and Flaviviridae recorded positive responses. These include a number of viral proteases for which we further confirmed that innate immune suppression depends on protease activity. A class of predicted inhibitors encoded by Rhabdoviridae viruses was demonstrated to block nuclear transport, and several previously uncharacterized proteins from uncultivated viruses were shown to inhibit nuclear transport of the transcription factors NF-κB and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3). We propose that this pathway-based assay, together with early sequencing, gene synthesis, and viral infection studies, could partly serve as the basis for rapid in vitro characterization of novel viral proteins. IMPORTANCE Infectious diseases caused by viral pathogens exacerbate health care and economic burdens. Numerous viral biomolecules suppress the human innate immune system, enabling viruses to evade an immune response from the host. Despite our current understanding of viral replications and immune evasion, new viral proteins, including those encoded by uncultivated viruses or emerging viruses, are being unearthed at a rapid pace from large-scale sequencing and surveillance projects. The use of medium- and high-throughput functional assays to characterize immunosuppressive functions of viral proteins can advance our understanding of viral replication and possibly treatment of infections. In this study, we assembled a large viral-gene library from diverse viral families and developed a high-content assay to test for inhibition of innate immunity pathways. Our work expands the tools that can rapidly link sequence and protein function, representing a practical step toward early-stage evaluation of emerging and understudied viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tai L. Ng
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Erika J. Olson
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Tae Yeon Yoo
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - H. Sloane Weiss
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Yukiye Koide
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Peter D. Koch
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nathan J. Rollins
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Pia Mach
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Tobias Meisinger
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Trenton Bricken
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Timothy Z. Chang
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Colin Molloy
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jérôme Zürcher
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Roger L. Chang
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Timothy J. Mitchison
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - John I. Glass
- J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Debora S. Marks
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jeffrey C. Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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9
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Veling MT, Nguyen DT, Thadani NN, Oster ME, Rollins NJ, Brock KP, Bethel NP, Lim S, Baker D, Way JC, Marks DS, Chang RL, Silver PA. Natural and Designed Proteins Inspired by Extremotolerant Organisms Can Form Condensates and Attenuate Apoptosis in Human Cells. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:1292-1302. [PMID: 35176859 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Many organisms can survive extreme conditions and successfully recover to normal life. This extremotolerant behavior has been attributed in part to repetitive, amphipathic, and intrinsically disordered proteins that are upregulated in the protected state. Here, we assemble a library of approximately 300 naturally occurring and designed extremotolerance-associated proteins to assess their ability to protect human cells from chemically induced apoptosis. We show that several proteins from tardigrades, nematodes, and the Chinese giant salamander are apoptosis-protective. Notably, we identify a region of the human ApoE protein with similarity to extremotolerance-associated proteins that also protects against apoptosis. This region mirrors the phase separation behavior seen with such proteins, like the tardigrade protein CAHS2. Moreover, we identify a synthetic protein, DHR81, that shares this combination of elevated phase separation propensity and apoptosis protection. Finally, we demonstrate that driving protective proteins into the condensate state increases apoptosis protection, and highlights the ability of DHR81 condensates to sequester caspase-7. Taken together, this work draws a link between extremotolerance-associated proteins, condensate formation, and designing human cellular protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike T. Veling
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Dan T. Nguyen
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Nicole N. Thadani
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Michela E. Oster
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Nathan J. Rollins
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Kelly P. Brock
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Neville P. Bethel
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Samuel Lim
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - David Baker
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Jeffrey C. Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Debora S. Marks
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Roger L. Chang
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Systems & Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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10
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Abstract
Synthetic biology seeks to redesign biological systems to perform novel functions in a predictable manner. Recent advances in bacterial and mammalian cell engineering include the development of cells that function in biological samples or within the body as minimally invasive diagnostics or theranostics for the real-time regulation of complex diseased states. Ex vivo and in vivo cell-based biosensors and therapeutics have been developed to target a wide range of diseases including cancer, microbiome dysbiosis and autoimmune and metabolic diseases. While probiotic therapies have advanced to clinical trials, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have received regulatory approval, exemplifying the clinical potential of cellular therapies. This Review discusses preclinical and clinical applications of bacterial and mammalian sensing and drug delivery platforms as well as the underlying biological designs that could enable new classes of cell diagnostics and therapeutics. Additionally, we describe challenges that must be overcome for more rapid and safer clinical use of engineered systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica P McNerney
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kailyn E Doiron
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tai L Ng
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Timothy Z Chang
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
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11
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Abstract
At the single-cell level, protein kinase activity is typically inferred from downstream transcriptional reporters. However, promoters are often coregulated by several pathways, making the activity of a specific kinase difficult to deconvolve. Here, we present modular, direct, and specific sensors of bacterial kinase activity, including FRET-based sensors, as well as a synthetic transcription factor based on the lactose repressor (LacI) that has been engineered to respond to phosphorylation. We demonstrate the utility of these sensors in measuring the activity of PrkC, a conserved bacterial Ser/Thr kinase, in different growth conditions from single cells to colonies. We also show that PrkC activity increases in response to a cell-wall active antibiotic that blocks the late steps in peptidoglycan synthesis (cefotaxime), but not the early steps (fosfomycin). These sensors have a modular design that should generalize to other bacterial signaling systems in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine R. Zheng
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Abhyudai Singh
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
| | - Alexandra Libby
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Elizabeth A. Libby
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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12
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Abstract
Encapsulins are recently discovered protein compartments able to specifically encapsulate cargo proteins in vivo. Encapsulation is dependent on C-terminal targeting peptides (TPs). Here, we characterize and engineer TP-shell interactions in the Thermotoga maritima and Myxococcus xanthus encapsulin systems. Using force-field modeling and particle fluorescence measurements we show that TPs vary in native specificity and binding strength, and that TP-shell interactions are determined by hydrophobic and ionic interactions as well as TP flexibility. We design a set of TPs with a variety of predicted binding strengths and experimentally characterize these designs. This yields a set of TPs with novel binding characteristics representing a potentially useful toolbox for future nanoreactor engineering aimed at controlling cargo loading efficiency and the relative stoichiometry of multiple concurrently loaded cargo proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wiggert J Altenburg
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Nathan Rollins
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Tobias W Giessen
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
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13
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Lee J, Vernet A, Gruber NG, Kready KM, Burrill DR, Way JC, Silver PA. Rational engineering of an erythropoietin fusion protein to treat hypoxia. Protein Eng Des Sel 2021; 34:6414420. [PMID: 34725710 DOI: 10.1093/protein/gzab025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Erythropoietin enhances oxygen delivery and reduces hypoxia-induced cell death, but its pro-thrombotic activity is problematic for use of erythropoietin in treating hypoxia. We constructed a fusion protein that stimulates red blood cell production and neuroprotection without triggering platelet production, a marker for thrombosis. The protein consists of an anti-glycophorin A nanobody and an erythropoietin mutant (L108A). The mutation reduces activation of erythropoietin receptor homodimers that induce erythropoiesis and thrombosis, but maintains the tissue-protective signaling. The binding of the nanobody element to glycophorin A rescues homodimeric erythropoietin receptor activation on red blood cell precursors. In a cell proliferation assay, the fusion protein is active at 10-14 M, allowing an estimate of the number of receptor-ligand complexes needed for signaling. This fusion protein stimulates erythroid cell proliferation in vitro and in mice, and shows neuroprotective activity in vitro. Our erythropoietin fusion protein presents a novel molecule for treating hypoxia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jungmin Lee
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Andyna Vernet
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nathalie G Gruber
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Kasia M Kready
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Devin R Burrill
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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14
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Abstract
Abundant links between the gut microbiota and human health indicate that modification of bacterial function could be a powerful therapeutic strategy. The inaccessibility of the gut and inter-connections between gut bacteria and the host make it difficult to precisely target bacterial functions without disrupting the microbiota and/or host physiology. Herein we describe a multidisciplinary approach to modulate the expression of a specific bacterial gene within the gut by oral administration. We demonstrate that an engineered temperate phage λ expressing a programmable dCas9 represses a targeted E. coli gene in the mammalian gut. To facilitate phage administration while minimizing disruption to host processes, we develop an aqueous-based encapsulation formulation with a microbiota-based release mechanism and show that it facilitates oral delivery of phage in vivo. Finally we combine these technologies and show that bacterial gene expression in the mammalian gut can be precisely modified in situ with a single oral dose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan B Hsu
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - Isaac N Plant
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Lorena Lyon
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Frances M Anastassacos
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
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15
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Kuo J, Yuan R, Sánchez C, Paulsson J, Silver PA. Toward a translationally independent RNA-based synthetic oscillator using deactivated CRISPR-Cas. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:8165-8177. [PMID: 32609820 PMCID: PMC7430638 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In synthetic circuits, CRISPR-Cas systems have been used effectively for endpoint changes from an initial state to a final state, such as in logic gates. Here, we use deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) and deactivated Cas12a (dCas12a) to construct dynamic RNA ring oscillators that cycle continuously between states over time in bacterial cells. While our dCas9 circuits using 103-nt guide RNAs showed irregular fluctuations with a wide distribution of peak-to-peak period lengths averaging approximately nine generations, a dCas12a oscillator design with 40-nt CRISPR RNAs performed much better, having a strongly repressed off-state, distinct autocorrelation function peaks, and an average peak-to-peak period length of ∼7.5 generations. Along with free-running oscillator circuits, we measure repression response times in open-loop systems with inducible RNA steps to compare with oscillator period times. We track thousands of cells for 24+ h at the single-cell level using a microfluidic device. In creating a circuit with nearly translationally independent behavior, as the RNAs control each others' transcription, we present the possibility for a synthetic oscillator generalizable across many organisms and readily linkable for transcriptional control.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Kuo
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ruoshi Yuan
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Carlos Sánchez
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Johan Paulsson
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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16
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Qian J, Lu ZX, Mancuso CP, Jhuang HY, Del Carmen Barajas-Ornelas R, Boswell SA, Ramírez-Guadiana FH, Jones V, Sonti A, Sedlack K, Artzi L, Jung G, Arammash M, Pettit ME, Melfi M, Lyon L, Owen SV, Baym M, Khalil AS, Silver PA, Rudner DZ, Springer M. Barcoded microbial system for high-resolution object provenance. Science 2020; 368:1135-1140. [PMID: 32499444 DOI: 10.1126/science.aba5584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Determining where an object has been is a fundamental challenge for human health, commerce, and food safety. Location-specific microbes in principle offer a cheap and sensitive way to determine object provenance. We created a synthetic, scalable microbial spore system that identifies object provenance in under 1 hour at meter-scale resolution and near single-spore sensitivity and can be safely introduced into and recovered from the environment. This system solves the key challenges in object provenance: persistence in the environment, scalability, rapid and facile decoding, and biocontainment. Our system is compatible with SHERLOCK, a Cas13a RNA-guided nucleic acid detection assay, facilitating its implementation in a wide range of applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Qian
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Zhi-Xiang Lu
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Christopher P Mancuso
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Han-Ying Jhuang
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - Sarah A Boswell
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - Victoria Jones
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Akhila Sonti
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Kole Sedlack
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Lior Artzi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Giyoung Jung
- Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Mohammad Arammash
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Mary E Pettit
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michael Melfi
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lorena Lyon
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Siân V Owen
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michael Baym
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ahmad S Khalil
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - David Z Rudner
- Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michael Springer
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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17
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Stirling F, Silver PA. Controlling the Implementation of Transgenic Microbes: Are We Ready for What Synthetic Biology Has to Offer? Mol Cell 2020; 78:614-623. [PMID: 32442504 PMCID: PMC7307494 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.03.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Synthetic biology has promised and delivered on an impressive array of applications based on genetically modified microorganisms. While novel biotechnology undoubtedly offers benefits, like all new technology, precautions should be considered during implementation to reduce the risk of both known and unknown adverse effects. To achieve containment of transgenic microorganisms, confidence to a near-scientific certainty that they cannot transfer their transgenic genes to other organisms, and that they cannot survive to propagate in unintended environments, is a priority. Here, we present an in-depth summary of biological containment systems for micro-organisms published to date, including the production of a genetic firewall through genome recoding and physical containment of microbes using auxotrophies, regulation of essential genes, and expression of toxic genes. The level of containment required to consider a transgenic organism suitable for deployment is discussed, as well as standards of practice for developing new containment systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Finn Stirling
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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18
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Faktorová D, Nisbet RER, Fernández Robledo JA, Casacuberta E, Sudek L, Allen AE, Ares M, Aresté C, Balestreri C, Barbrook AC, Beardslee P, Bender S, Booth DS, Bouget FY, Bowler C, Breglia SA, Brownlee C, Burger G, Cerutti H, Cesaroni R, Chiurillo MA, Clemente T, Coles DB, Collier JL, Cooney EC, Coyne K, Docampo R, Dupont CL, Edgcomb V, Einarsson E, Elustondo PA, Federici F, Freire-Beneitez V, Freyria NJ, Fukuda K, García PA, Girguis PR, Gomaa F, Gornik SG, Guo J, Hampl V, Hanawa Y, Haro-Contreras ER, Hehenberger E, Highfield A, Hirakawa Y, Hopes A, Howe CJ, Hu I, Ibañez J, Irwin NAT, Ishii Y, Janowicz NE, Jones AC, Kachale A, Fujimura-Kamada K, Kaur B, Kaye JZ, Kazana E, Keeling PJ, King N, Klobutcher LA, Lander N, Lassadi I, Li Z, Lin S, Lozano JC, Luan F, Maruyama S, Matute T, Miceli C, Minagawa J, Moosburner M, Najle SR, Nanjappa D, Nimmo IC, Noble L, Novák Vanclová AMG, Nowacki M, Nuñez I, Pain A, Piersanti A, Pucciarelli S, Pyrih J, Rest JS, Rius M, Robertson D, Ruaud A, Ruiz-Trillo I, Sigg MA, Silver PA, Slamovits CH, Jason Smith G, Sprecher BN, Stern R, Swart EC, Tsaousis AD, Tsypin L, Turkewitz A, Turnšek J, Valach M, Vergé V, von Dassow P, von der Haar T, Waller RF, Wang L, Wen X, Wheeler G, Woods A, Zhang H, Mock T, Worden AZ, Lukeš J. Publisher Correction: Genetic tool development in marine protists: emerging model organisms for experimental cell biology. Nat Methods 2020; 17:551. [PMID: 32296171 PMCID: PMC7200595 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-020-0828-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Drahomíra Faktorová
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
| | - R Ellen R Nisbet
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, UK
| | | | - Elena Casacuberta
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lisa Sudek
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
| | - Andrew E Allen
- Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.,Microbial and Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Manuel Ares
- Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Cristina Aresté
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cecilia Balestreri
- The Marine Biological Association, Plymouth and School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | | | - Patrick Beardslee
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Sara Bender
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - David S Booth
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - François-Yves Bouget
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR7621, Observatoire Océanologique, Banyuls sur Mer, France
| | - Chris Bowler
- Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (IBENS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France
| | - Susana A Breglia
- Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Colin Brownlee
- The Marine Biological Association, Plymouth and School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Gertraud Burger
- Department of Biochemistry and Robert-Cedergren Centre for Bioinformatics and Genomics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Heriberto Cerutti
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Rachele Cesaroni
- Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Miguel A Chiurillo
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Thomas Clemente
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Duncan B Coles
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, USA
| | - Jackie L Collier
- School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Elizabeth C Cooney
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Kathryn Coyne
- University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, Lewes, DE, USA
| | - Roberto Docampo
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Christopher L Dupont
- Microbial and Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Elin Einarsson
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Pía A Elustondo
- Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.,AGADA Biosciences Inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Fernan Federici
- Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Fondo de Desarrollo de Areas Prioritarias, Center for Genome Regulation and Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Veronica Freire-Beneitez
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.,Laboratory of Molecular and Evolutionary Parasitology, University of Kent, Kent, UK
| | | | - Kodai Fukuda
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Paulo A García
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Peter R Girguis
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Fatma Gomaa
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sebastian G Gornik
- Centre for Organismal Studies, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jian Guo
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA.,Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Yutaka Hanawa
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Esteban R Haro-Contreras
- Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Elisabeth Hehenberger
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Andrea Highfield
- The Marine Biological Association, Plymouth and School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Yoshihisa Hirakawa
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Amanda Hopes
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | | | - Ian Hu
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jorge Ibañez
- Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Fondo de Desarrollo de Areas Prioritarias, Center for Genome Regulation and Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Nicholas A T Irwin
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Yuu Ishii
- Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Natalia Ewa Janowicz
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Adam C Jones
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Ambar Kachale
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Konomi Fujimura-Kamada
- Division of Environmental Photobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
| | - Binnypreet Kaur
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | | | - Eleanna Kazana
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.,Laboratory of Molecular and Evolutionary Parasitology, University of Kent, Kent, UK
| | - Patrick J Keeling
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Nicole King
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Noelia Lander
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Imen Lassadi
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Zhuhong Li
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Senjie Lin
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT, USA
| | - Jean-Claude Lozano
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR7621, Observatoire Océanologique, Banyuls sur Mer, France
| | - Fulei Luan
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | | | - Tamara Matute
- Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Fondo de Desarrollo de Areas Prioritarias, Center for Genome Regulation and Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Cristina Miceli
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy
| | - Jun Minagawa
- Division of Environmental Photobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan.,Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
| | - Mark Moosburner
- Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.,Microbial and Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sebastián R Najle
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, CONICET, and Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina
| | - Deepak Nanjappa
- University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, Lewes, DE, USA
| | - Isabel C Nimmo
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Luke Noble
- Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, New York, NY, USA.,Institute de Biologie de l'ENS, Département de biologie, École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Paris, France
| | - Anna M G Novák Vanclová
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Mariusz Nowacki
- Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Isaac Nuñez
- Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Fondo de Desarrollo de Areas Prioritarias, Center for Genome Regulation and Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Arnab Pain
- Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.,Center for Zoonosis Control, Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Angela Piersanti
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy
| | - Sandra Pucciarelli
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy
| | - Jan Pyrih
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.,Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Joshua S Rest
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Mariana Rius
- School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | | | - Albane Ruaud
- Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Fondo de Desarrollo de Areas Prioritarias, Center for Genome Regulation and Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago de Chile, Chile.,Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Genètica Microbiologia i Estadıśtica, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Monika A Sigg
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Claudio H Slamovits
- Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - G Jason Smith
- Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA, USA
| | | | - Rowena Stern
- The Marine Biological Association, Plymouth and School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Estienne C Swart
- Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anastasios D Tsaousis
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.,Laboratory of Molecular and Evolutionary Parasitology, University of Kent, Kent, UK
| | - Lev Tsypin
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.,Department of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Aaron Turkewitz
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jernej Turnšek
- Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.,Microbial and Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Matus Valach
- Department of Biochemistry and Robert-Cedergren Centre for Bioinformatics and Genomics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Valérie Vergé
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR7621, Observatoire Océanologique, Banyuls sur Mer, France
| | - Peter von Dassow
- Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Fondo de Desarrollo de Areas Prioritarias, Center for Genome Regulation and Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago de Chile, Chile.,Instituto Milenio de Oceanografia de Chile, Concepción, Chile
| | | | - Ross F Waller
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Lu Wang
- Institute of Oceanography, Minjiang University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xiaoxue Wen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Glen Wheeler
- The Marine Biological Association, Plymouth and School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - April Woods
- Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA, USA
| | - Huan Zhang
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT, USA
| | - Thomas Mock
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
| | - Alexandra Z Worden
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA. .,Ocean EcoSystems Biology Unit, Marine Ecology Division, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany.
| | - Julius Lukeš
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
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19
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Perez R, Luccioni M, Kamakaka R, Clamons S, Gaut N, Stirling F, Adamala KP, Silver PA, Endy D. Enabling community-based metrology for wood-degrading fungi. Fungal Biol Biotechnol 2020; 7:2. [PMID: 32206323 PMCID: PMC7081594 DOI: 10.1186/s40694-020-00092-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lignocellulosic biomass could support a greatly-expanded bioeconomy. Current strategies for using biomass typically rely on single-cell organisms and extensive ancillary equipment to produce precursors for downstream manufacturing processes. Alternative forms of bioproduction based on solid-state fermentation and wood-degrading fungi could enable more direct means of manufacture. However, basic methods for cultivating wood-degrading fungi are often ad hoc and not readily reproducible. Here, we developed standard reference strains, substrates, measurements, and methods sufficient to begin to enable reliable reuse of mycological materials and products in simple laboratory settings. RESULTS We show that a widely-available and globally-regularized consumer product (Pringles™) can support the growth of wood-degrading fungi, and that growth on Pringles™-broth can be correlated with growth on media made from a fully-traceable and compositionally characterized substrate (National Institute of Standards and Technology Reference Material 8492 Eastern Cottonwood Whole Biomass Feedstock). We also establish a Relative Extension Unit (REU) framework that is designed to reduce variation in quantification of radial growth measurements. So enabled, we demonstrate that five laboratories were able to compare measurements of wood-fungus performance via a simple radial extension growth rate assay, and that our REU-based approach reduced variation in reported measurements by up to ~ 75%. CONCLUSIONS Reliable reuse of materials, measures, and methods is necessary to enable distributed bioproduction processes that can be adopted at all scales, from local to industrial. Our community-based measurement methods incentivize practitioners to coordinate the reuse of standard materials, methods, strains, and to share information supporting work with wood-degrading fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rolando Perez
- Department of Bioengineering, Schools of Engineering and Medicine, Stanford University, Room 252, Shriram Center, 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Marina Luccioni
- Department of Bioengineering, Schools of Engineering and Medicine, Stanford University, Room 252, Shriram Center, 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Rohinton Kamakaka
- Department of MCD Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
| | - Samuel Clamons
- Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biophysics, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd, MC 138-78, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
- Department of Control and Dynamical Systems, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd, MC 138-78, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
| | - Nathaniel Gaut
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, 420 Washington Ave. SE, 5-178 MCB, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
| | - Finn Stirling
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert Building, Boston, MA 02115 USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert Building, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Katarzyna P. Adamala
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, 420 Washington Ave. SE, 5-178 MCB, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert Building, Boston, MA 02115 USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert Building, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Drew Endy
- Department of Bioengineering, Schools of Engineering and Medicine, Stanford University, Room 252, Shriram Center, 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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20
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Lee J, Vernet A, Redfield K, Lu S, Ghiran IC, Way JC, Silver PA. Rational Design of a Bifunctional AND-Gate Ligand To Modulate Cell-Cell Interactions. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:191-197. [PMID: 31834794 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [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: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Protein "AND-gate" systems, in which a ligand acts only on cells with two different receptors, direct signaling activity to a particular cell type and avoid action on other cells. In a bifunctional AND-gate protein, the molecular geometry of the protein domains is crucial. Here we constructed a tissue-targeted erythropoietin (EPO) that stimulates red blood cell (RBC) production without triggering thrombosis. The EPO was directed to RBC precursors and mature RBCs by fusion to an anti-glycophorin A antibody V region. Many such constructs activated EPO receptors in vitro and stimulated RBC and not platelet production in mice but nonetheless enhanced thrombosis in mice and caused adhesion between RBCs and EPO-receptor-bearing cells. On the basis of a protein-structural model of the RBC surface, we rationally designed an anti-glycophorin-EPO fusion that does not induce cell adhesion in vitro or enhance thrombosis in vivo. Thus, mesoscale geometry can inform the design of synthetic-biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jungmin Lee
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Andyna Vernet
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Katherine Redfield
- Harvard−MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Shulin Lu
- Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Ionita C. Ghiran
- Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Jeffrey C. Way
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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21
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Tracey JC, Coronado M, Giessen TW, Lau MCY, Silver PA, Ward BB. The Discovery of Twenty-Eight New Encapsulin Sequences, Including Three in Anammox Bacteria. Sci Rep 2019; 9:20122. [PMID: 31882935 PMCID: PMC6934571 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56533-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [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: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Many prokaryotes encode protein-based encapsulin nanocompartments, including anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria. This study expands the list of known anammox encapsulin systems from freshwater species to include the marine genus Scalindua. Two novel systems, identified in "Candidatus Scalindua rubra" and "Candidatus Scalindua sp. SCAELEC01 167" possess different architectures than previously studied freshwater anammox encapsulins. Characterization of the S. rubra encapsulin confirms that it can self-assemble to form compartments when heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. BLASTp and HMMER searches of additional genomes and metagenomes spanning a range of environments returned 26 additional novel encapsulins, including a freshwater anammox encapsulin identified in "Candidatus Brocadia caroliniensis". Phylogenetic analysis comparing these 28 new encapsulin sequences and cargo to that of their closest known relatives shows that encapsulins cluster by cargo protein type and therefore likely evolved together. Lastly, prokaryotic encapsulins may be more common and diverse than previously thought. Through searching a small sample size of all public metagenomes and genomes, many new encapsulin systems were unearthed by this study. This suggests that many additional encapsulins likely remain to be discovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- John C Tracey
- Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.
| | - Maricela Coronado
- Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Tobias W Giessen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Systems Biology, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Maggie C Y Lau
- Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
- Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, Hainan, China
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Systems Biology, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Bess B Ward
- Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
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22
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Kim J, Zhou Y, Carlson PD, Teichmann M, Chaudhary S, Simmel FC, Silver PA, Collins JJ, Lucks JB, Yin P, Green AA. De novo-designed translation-repressing riboregulators for multi-input cellular logic. Nat Chem Biol 2019; 15:1173-1182. [PMID: 31686032 PMCID: PMC6864284 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-019-0388-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Efforts to construct synthetic biological circuits with more complex functions have often been hindered by the idiosyncratic behavior, limited dynamic range, and crosstalk of commonly utilized parts. Here, we employ de novo RNA design to develop two high-performance translational repressors with sensing and logic capabilities. These synthetic riboregulators, termed toehold repressors and three-way junction (3WJ) repressors, detect transcripts with nearly arbitrary sequences, repress gene expression by up to 300-fold, and yield orthogonal sets of up to 15 devices. Automated forward engineering is used to improve toehold repressor dynamic range and SHAPE-Seq is applied to confirm the designed switching mechanism of 3WJ repressors in living cells. We integrate the modular repressors into biological circuits that execute universal NAND and NOR logic and evaluate the four-input expression NOT ((A1 AND A2) OR (B1 AND B2)) in Escherichia coli. These capabilities make toehold and 3WJ repressors valuable new tools for biotechnological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jongmin Kim
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.,Integrative Biosciences and Biotechnology, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea
| | - Yu Zhou
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Paul D Carlson
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.,Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Mario Teichmann
- Physics Department E14 and ZNN/WSI, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany
| | - Soma Chaudhary
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Friedrich C Simmel
- Physics Department E14 and ZNN/WSI, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany.,Nanosystems Initiative Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - James J Collins
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.,Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Department of Biological Engineering, and Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Julius B Lucks
- Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.,Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Peng Yin
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. .,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Alexander A Green
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. .,School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
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23
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Ziesack M, Gibson T, Oliver JKW, Shumaker AM, Hsu BB, Riglar DT, Giessen TW, DiBenedetto NV, Bry L, Way JC, Silver PA, Gerber GK. Engineered Interspecies Amino Acid Cross-Feeding Increases Population Evenness in a Synthetic Bacterial Consortium. mSystems 2019; 4:e00352-19. [PMID: 31409662 PMCID: PMC6697442 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00352-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
In nature, microbes interact antagonistically, neutrally, or beneficially. To shed light on the effects of positive interactions in microbial consortia, we introduced metabolic dependencies and metabolite overproduction into four bacterial species. While antagonistic interactions govern the wild-type consortium behavior, the genetic modifications alleviated antagonistic interactions and resulted in beneficial interactions. Engineered cross-feeding increased population evenness, a component of ecological diversity, in different environments, including in a more complex gnotobiotic mouse gut environment. Our findings suggest that metabolite cross-feeding could be used as a tool for intentionally shaping microbial consortia in complex environments.IMPORTANCE Microbial communities are ubiquitous in nature. Bacterial consortia live in and on our body and in our environment, and more recently, biotechnology is applying microbial consortia for bioproduction. As part of our body, bacterial consortia influence us in health and disease. Microbial consortium function is determined by its composition, which in turn is driven by the interactions between species. Further understanding of microbial interactions will help us in deciphering how consortia function in complex environments and may enable us to modify microbial consortia for health and environmental benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marika Ziesack
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Travis Gibson
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - John K W Oliver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Andrew M Shumaker
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Bryan B Hsu
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - David T Riglar
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Tobias W Giessen
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nicholas V DiBenedetto
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lynn Bry
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Georg K Gerber
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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24
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Giessen TW, Orlando BJ, Verdegaal AA, Chambers MG, Gardener J, Bell DC, Birrane G, Liao M, Silver PA. Large protein organelles form a new iron sequestration system with high storage capacity. eLife 2019; 8:46070. [PMID: 31282860 PMCID: PMC6668986 DOI: 10.7554/elife.46070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Iron storage proteins are essential for cellular iron homeostasis and redox balance. Ferritin proteins are the major storage units for bioavailable forms of iron. Some organisms lack ferritins, and it is not known how they store iron. Encapsulins, a class of protein-based organelles, have recently been implicated in microbial iron and redox metabolism. Here, we report the structural and mechanistic characterization of a 42 nm two-component encapsulin-based iron storage compartment from Quasibacillus thermotolerans. Using cryo-electron microscopy and x-ray crystallography, we reveal the assembly principles of a thermostable T = 4 shell topology and its catalytic ferroxidase cargo and show interactions underlying cargo-shell co-assembly. This compartment has an exceptionally large iron storage capacity storing over 23,000 iron atoms. Our results reveal a new approach for survival in diverse habitats with limited or fluctuating iron availability via an iron storage system able to store 10 to 20 times more iron than ferritin. People often think of the cell as the basic unit of life. Despite this, individual cells are also subdivided into many compartments, called ‘organelles’ because they act like the internal organs of the cell. For example, organelles can break down nutrients, store information in the form of DNA, or help remove waste. Even bacterial cells, despite being smaller and simpler than most other cell types, contain organelle-like structures. These are tiny compartments, termed protein organelles, which are enclosed by ‘shells’ made from self-assembling proteins within the cell. Cells need iron to carry out the chemical reactions necessary for life. Iron is therefore an essential nutrient, but it can also be toxic if not stored properly inside the cell. Cells often solve this problem by locking iron away inside small, specialised protein cages called ferritins until it can be used. Most organisms, from humans to bacteria, have ferritins, but some do not, and the way these organisms store iron remains largely unknown. The bacterium Quasibacillus thermotolerans is an example of an organism that lacks ferritins. However, it does contain a recently discovered type of protein organelle, called an encapsulin. Giessen et al. wanted to find out more about the structure of this protein organelle, and to determine if it helped these bacteria store iron. Q. thermotolerans’ encapsulin turned out to be the largest of its kind discovered to date. Detailed imaging experiments, using a combination of electron microscopy and X-ray- based techniques, revealed that the protein shell of the encapsulin had an overall structure resembling chain mail and contained multiple pores. These pores were negatively charged, meaning that they could efficiently attract iron (which has a positive charge) and funnel it into the interior of the compartment. The compartment itself was able to store at least 20 times more iron than ferritins, making this encapsulin one of the most efficient methods of iron storage in any cell. These findings will help us better understand how bacteria that lack ferritins cope with the problem of iron storage. In the future, encapsulins could also be used as a target for new therapies to fight bacterial infections, or even as the building blocks for microscopic chemical reactors or ‘storage facilities’ in industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias W Giessen
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, United States.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
| | - Benjamin J Orlando
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Andrew A Verdegaal
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, United States
| | - Melissa G Chambers
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Jules Gardener
- Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - David C Bell
- Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States.,School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Gabriel Birrane
- Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Maofu Liao
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, United States.,Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
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25
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Hsu BB, Gibson TE, Yeliseyev V, Liu Q, Lyon L, Bry L, Silver PA, Gerber GK. Dynamic Modulation of the Gut Microbiota and Metabolome by Bacteriophages in a Mouse Model. Cell Host Microbe 2019; 25:803-814.e5. [PMID: 31175044 DOI: 10.1101/454579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [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: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 03/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
The human gut microbiome is comprised of densely colonizing microorganisms including bacteriophages, which are in dynamic interaction with each other and the mammalian host. To address how bacteriophages impact bacterial communities in the gut, we investigated the dynamic effects of phages on a model microbiome. Gnotobiotic mice were colonized with defined human gut commensal bacteria and subjected to predation by cognate lytic phages. We found that phage predation not only directly impacts susceptible bacteria but also leads to cascading effects on other bacterial species via interbacterial interactions. Metabolomic profiling revealed that shifts in the microbiome caused by phage predation have a direct consequence on the gut metabolome. Our work provides insight into the ecological importance of phages as modulators of bacterial colonization, and it additionally suggests the potential impact of gut phages on the mammalian host with implications for their therapeutic use to precisely modulate the microbiome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan B Hsu
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Travis E Gibson
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Vladimir Yeliseyev
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Qing Liu
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lorena Lyon
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lynn Bry
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Georg K Gerber
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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26
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Naydich AD, Nangle SN, Bues JJ, Trivedi D, Nissar N, Inniss MC, Niederhuber MJ, Way JC, Silver PA, Riglar DT. Synthetic Gene Circuits Enable Systems-Level Biosensor Trigger Discovery at the Host-Microbe Interface. mSystems 2019; 4:e00125-19. [PMID: 31186335 PMCID: PMC6561318 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00125-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Engineering synthetic circuits into intestinal bacteria to sense, record, and respond to in vivo signals is a promising new approach for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. However, because the design of disease-responsive circuits is limited by a relatively small pool of known biosensors, there is a need for expanding the capacity of engineered bacteria to sense and respond to the host environment. Here, we apply a robust genetic memory circuit in Escherichia coli to identify new bacterial biosensor triggers responding in the healthy and diseased mammalian gut, which may be used to construct diagnostic or therapeutic circuits. We developed a pipeline for rapid systems-level library construction and screening, using next-generation sequencing and computational analysis, which demonstrates remarkably reliable identification of responsive biosensor triggers from pooled libraries. By testing libraries of potential triggers-each consisting of a promoter and ribosome binding site (RBS)-and using RBS variation to augment the range of trigger sensitivity, we identify and validate triggers that selectively activate our synthetic memory circuit during transit through the gut. We further identify biosensor triggers with increased response in the inflamed gut through comparative screening of one of our libraries in healthy mice and those with intestinal inflammation. Our results demonstrate the power of systems-level screening for the identification of novel biosensor triggers in the gut and provide a platform for disease-specific screening that is capable of contributing to both the understanding and clinical management of intestinal illness.IMPORTANCE The gut is a largely obscure and inaccessible environment. The use of live, engineered probiotics to detect and respond to disease signals in vivo represents a new frontier in the management of gut diseases. Engineered probiotics have also shown promise as a novel mechanism for drug delivery. However, the design and construction of effective strains that respond to the in vivo environment is hindered by our limited understanding of bacterial behavior in the gut. Our work expands the pool of environmentally responsive synthetic circuits for the healthy and diseased gut, providing insight into host-microbe interactions and enabling future development of increasingly complex biosensors. This method also provides a framework for rapid prototyping of engineered systems and for application across bacterial strains and disease models, representing a practical step toward the construction of clinically useful synthetic tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander D Naydich
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Shannon N Nangle
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Johannes J Bues
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Disha Trivedi
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nabeel Nissar
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mara C Inniss
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Jeffrey C Way
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - David T Riglar
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Hsu BB, Gibson TE, Yeliseyev V, Liu Q, Lyon L, Bry L, Silver PA, Gerber GK. Dynamic Modulation of the Gut Microbiota and Metabolome by Bacteriophages in a Mouse Model. Cell Host Microbe 2019; 25:803-814.e5. [PMID: 31175044 PMCID: PMC6579560 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2019.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 272] [Impact Index Per Article: 54.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 03/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The human gut microbiome is comprised of densely colonizing microorganisms including bacteriophages, which are in dynamic interaction with each other and the mammalian host. To address how bacteriophages impact bacterial communities in the gut, we investigated the dynamic effects of phages on a model microbiome. Gnotobiotic mice were colonized with defined human gut commensal bacteria and subjected to predation by cognate lytic phages. We found that phage predation not only directly impacts susceptible bacteria but also leads to cascading effects on other bacterial species via interbacterial interactions. Metabolomic profiling revealed that shifts in the microbiome caused by phage predation have a direct consequence on the gut metabolome. Our work provides insight into the ecological importance of phages as modulators of bacterial colonization, and it additionally suggests the potential impact of gut phages on the mammalian host with implications for their therapeutic use to precisely modulate the microbiome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan B Hsu
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Travis E Gibson
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Vladimir Yeliseyev
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Qing Liu
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lorena Lyon
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lynn Bry
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Georg K Gerber
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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28
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Abstract
Park et al. (2019) create a synthetic self-propagating adenine methylation system for epigenetic control in human cells. Targeting adenine allows their modular system to act orthogonally to most epigenetic processes, thereby opening the door for novel methods of controlling gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Z Chang
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - James Kuo
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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29
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Abstract
Due to a limited set of antifungals available and problems in early diagnosis, invasive fungal infections caused by Candida species are among the most common hospital-acquired infections with staggering mortality rates. Here, we describe an engineered system able to sense and respond to the fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the most common cause of candidemia. In doing so, we identified hydroxyphenylacetic acid (HPA) as a novel molecule secreted by C. albicans. Furthermore, we engineered E. coli to be able to sense HPA produced by C. albicans. Finally, we constructed a sense-and-respond system by coupling the C. albicans sensor to the production of an inhibitor of hypha formation, thereby reducing filamentation, virulence factor expression, and fungal-induced epithelial damage. This system could be used as a basis for the development of novel prophylactic approaches to prevent fungal infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Tscherner
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Tobias W. Giessen
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Laura Markey
- Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, United States
| | - Carol A. Kumamoto
- Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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30
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31
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Liu C, Nangle SN, Colón BC, Silver PA, Nocera DG. 13C-Labeling the carbon-fixation pathway of a highly efficient artificial photosynthetic system. Faraday Discuss 2018; 198:529-537. [PMID: 28294218 DOI: 10.1039/c6fd00231e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Interfacing the CO2-fixing microorganism, Ralstonia eutropha, to the energy derived from hydrogen produced by water splitting is a viable approach to achieving renewable CO2 reduction at high efficiencies. We employ 13C-labeling to report on the nature of CO2 reduction in the inorganic water splitting|R. eutropha hybrid system. Accumulated biomass in a reactor under a 13C-enriched CO2 atmosphere may be sampled at different time points during CO2 reduction. Converting the sampled biomass into gaseous CO2 allows the 13C/12C ratio to be determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. After 2 hours of inoculation and the initiation of water splitting, the microbes adapted and began to convert CO2 into biomass. The observed time evolution of the 13C/12C ratio in accumulated biomass is consistent with a Monod model for carbon fixation. Carbon dioxide produced by catabolism was found to be minimal. This rapid response of the bacteria to a hydrogen input and to subsequent CO2 reduction at high efficiency are beneficial to achieving artificial photosynthesis for the storage of renewable energy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chong Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
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32
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Kim S, Kerns SJ, Ziesack M, Bry L, Gerber GK, Way JC, Silver PA. Quorum Sensing Can Be Repurposed To Promote Information Transfer between Bacteria in the Mammalian Gut. ACS Synth Biol 2018; 7:2270-2281. [PMID: 30125499 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.8b00271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [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: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
The gut microbiome is intricately involved with establishing and maintaining the health of the host. Engineering of gut microbes aims to add new functions and expand the scope of control over the gut microbiome. To create systems that can perform increasingly complex tasks in the gut, it is necessary to harness the ability of the bacteria to communicate in the gut environment. Interestingly, acyl-homoserine lactone (acyl-HSL)-mediated Gram-negative bacterial quorum sensing, a widely used mode of intercellular signaling system in nature, has not been identified in normal healthy mammalian gut. It remains unknown whether the gut bacteria that do not natively use quorum sensing can be engineered to successfully signal to other bacteria using acyl-HSLs in the gut environment. Here, we repurposed quorum sensing to create an information transfer system between native gut Escherichia coli and attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Specifically, we functionalized one species with inducible signal production and the other with signal detection and recording using genomically integrated circuits. The information transfer system demonstrated successful intra- and interspecies signaling in the murine gut. This study provides a basis for further understanding of interbacterial interactions in an otherwise hard-to-study environment as well as a basis for further investigation of the potential of acyl-HSLs as intercellular signaling molecules of engineered gut consortia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suhyun Kim
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - S. Jordan Kerns
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Marika Ziesack
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Lynn Bry
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Georg K. Gerber
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Jeffrey C. Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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33
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Abstract
Steroids can be difficult to modify through traditional organic synthesis methods, but many enzymes regio- and stereoselectively process a wide variety of steroid substrates. We tested whether steroid-modifying enzymes could make novel steroids from non-native substrates. Numerous genes encoding steroid-modifying enzymes, including some bacterial enzymes, were expressed in mammalian cells by transient transfection and found to be active. We made three unusual steroids by stable expression, in HEK293 cells, of the 7α-hydroxylase CYP7B1, which was selected because of its high native product yield. These cells made 7α,17α-dihydroxypregnenolone and 7β,17α-dihydroxypregnenolone from 17α-hydroxypregnenolone and produced 11α,16α-dihydroxyprogesterone from 16α-hydroxyprogesterone. The last two products were the result of CYP7B1-catalyzed hydroxylation at previously unobserved sites. A Rosetta docking model of CYP7B1 suggested that these substrates' D-ring hydroxy groups might prevent them from binding in the same way as the native substrates, bringing different carbon atoms close to the active ferryl oxygen atom. This new approach could potentially use other enzymes and substrates to produce many novel steroids for drug candidate testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma S. Spady
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School – Boston, MA 02115, United States
- Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard University – Boston, MA 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University – Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Thomas P. Wyche
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School – Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Nathanael J. Rollins
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School – Boston, MA 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University – Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Jon Clardy
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School – Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Jeffrey C. Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School – Boston, MA 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University – Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School – Boston, MA 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University – Boston, MA 02115, United States
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34
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Lau YH, Giessen TW, Altenburg WJ, Silver PA. Prokaryotic nanocompartments form synthetic organelles in a eukaryote. Nat Commun 2018; 9:1311. [PMID: 29615617 PMCID: PMC5882880 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03768-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Compartmentalization of proteins into organelles is a promising strategy for enhancing the productivity of engineered eukaryotic organisms. However, approaches that co-opt endogenous organelles may be limited by the potential for unwanted crosstalk and disruption of native metabolic functions. Here, we present the construction of synthetic non-endogenous organelles in the eukaryotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, based on the prokaryotic family of self-assembling proteins known as encapsulins. We establish that encapsulins self-assemble to form nanoscale compartments in yeast, and that heterologous proteins can be selectively targeted for compartmentalization. Housing destabilized proteins within encapsulin compartments afford protection against proteolytic degradation in vivo, while the interaction between split protein components is enhanced upon co-localization within the compartment interior. Furthermore, encapsulin compartments can support enzymatic catalysis, with substrate turnover observed for an encapsulated yeast enzyme. Encapsulin compartments therefore represent a modular platform, orthogonal to existing organelles, for programming synthetic compartmentalization in eukaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Heng Lau
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Eastern Avenue, NSW, 2006, Sydney, Australia
| | - Tobias W Giessen
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Wiggert J Altenburg
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. .,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
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35
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Kuo J, Stirling F, Lau YH, Shulgina Y, Way JC, Silver PA. Synthetic genome recoding: new genetic codes for new features. Curr Genet 2018; 64:327-333. [PMID: 28983660 PMCID: PMC5849531 DOI: 10.1007/s00294-017-0754-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [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: 08/31/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Full genome recoding, or rewriting codon meaning, through chemical synthesis of entire bacterial chromosomes has become feasible in the past several years. Recoding an organism can impart new properties including non-natural amino acid incorporation, virus resistance, and biocontainment. The estimated cost of construction that includes DNA synthesis, assembly by recombination, and troubleshooting, is now comparable to costs of early stage development of drugs or other high-tech products. Here, we discuss several recently published assembly methods and provide some thoughts on the future, including how synthetic efforts might benefit from the analysis of natural recoding processes and organisms that use alternative genetic codes.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Kuo
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Finn Stirling
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Yu Heng Lau
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Yekaterina Shulgina
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
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36
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Sachdeva G, Myhrvold C, Yin P, Silver PA. Synthetic RNA Scaffolds for Spatial Engineering in Cells. Synth Biol (Oxf) 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/9783527688104.ch13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Gairik Sachdeva
- Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 29 Oxford Street; Cambridge MA 02138 USA
- Harvard University; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, 3 Blackfan Circle; Boston MA 02115 USA
- Harvard Medical School; Department of Systems Biology, 200 Longwood Avenue; Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Cameron Myhrvold
- Harvard University; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, 3 Blackfan Circle; Boston MA 02115 USA
- Harvard Medical School; Department of Systems Biology, 200 Longwood Avenue; Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Peng Yin
- Harvard University; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, 3 Blackfan Circle; Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Harvard University; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, 3 Blackfan Circle; Boston MA 02115 USA
- Harvard Medical School; Department of Systems Biology, 200 Longwood Avenue; Boston MA 02115 USA
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37
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Nangle SN, Sakimoto KK, Silver PA, Nocera DG. Biological-inorganic hybrid systems as a generalized platform for chemical production. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2017; 41:107-113. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.10.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2017] [Revised: 10/16/2017] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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38
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Stirling F, Bitzan L, O'Keefe S, Redfield E, Oliver JWK, Way J, Silver PA. Rational Design of Evolutionarily Stable Microbial Kill Switches. Mol Cell 2017; 68:686-697.e3. [PMID: 29149596 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2017.10.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [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: 04/10/2017] [Revised: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary stability of synthetic genetic circuits is key to both the understanding and application of genetic control elements. One useful but challenging situation is a switch between life and death depending on environment. Here are presented "essentializer" and "cryodeath" circuits, which act as kill switches in Escherichia coli. The essentializer element induces cell death upon the loss of a bi-stable cI/Cro memory switch. Cryodeath makes use of a cold-inducible promoter to express a toxin. We employ rational design and a toxin/antitoxin titering approach to produce and screen a small library of potential constructs, in order to select for constructs that are evolutionarily stable. Both kill switches were shown to maintain functionality in vitro for at least 140 generations. Additionally, cryodeath was shown to control the growth environment of a population, with an escape frequency of less than 1 in 105 after 10 days of growth in the mammalian gut.
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Affiliation(s)
- Finn Stirling
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lisa Bitzan
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Samuel O'Keefe
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Elizabeth Redfield
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - John W K Oliver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jeffrey Way
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Warren Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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39
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Lau YH, Stirling F, Kuo J, Karrenbelt MAP, Chan YA, Riesselman A, Horton CA, Schäfer E, Lips D, Weinstock MT, Gibson DG, Way JC, Silver PA. Large-scale recoding of a bacterial genome by iterative recombineering of synthetic DNA. Nucleic Acids Res 2017; 45:6971-6980. [PMID: 28499033 PMCID: PMC5499800 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to rewrite large stretches of genomic DNA enables the creation of new organisms with customized functions. However, few methods currently exist for accumulating such widespread genomic changes in a single organism. In this study, we demonstrate a rapid approach for rewriting bacterial genomes with modified synthetic DNA. We recode 200 kb of the Salmonella typhimurium LT2 genome through a process we term SIRCAS (stepwise integration of rolling circle amplified segments), towards constructing an attenuated and genetically isolated bacterial chassis. The SIRCAS process involves direct iterative recombineering of 10–25 kb synthetic DNA constructs which are assembled in yeast and amplified by rolling circle amplification. Using SIRCAS, we create a Salmonella with 1557 synonymous leucine codon replacements across 176 genes, the largest number of cumulative recoding changes in a single bacterial strain to date. We demonstrate reproducibility over sixteen two-day cycles of integration and parallelization for hierarchical construction of a synthetic genome by conjugation. The resulting recoded strain grows at a similar rate to the wild-type strain and does not exhibit any major growth defects. This work is the first instance of synthetic bacterial recoding beyond the Escherichia coli genome, and reveals that Salmonella is remarkably amenable to genome-scale modification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Heng Lau
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Finn Stirling
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - James Kuo
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michiel A P Karrenbelt
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Systems and Synthetic Biology, Wageningen University, Dreijenplein 10, 6703 HB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Yujia A Chan
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Adam Riesselman
- Program in Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Connor A Horton
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Elena Schäfer
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - David Lips
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Matthew T Weinstock
- Synthetic Genomics, Inc., 11149 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Daniel G Gibson
- Synthetic Genomics, Inc., 11149 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.,Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy Group, J. Craig Venter Institute, 4120 Capricorn Lane, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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40
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Brown DM, Chan YA, Desai PJ, Grzesik P, Oldfield LM, Vashee S, Way JC, Silver PA, Glass JI. Efficient size-independent chromosome delivery from yeast to cultured cell lines. Nucleic Acids Res 2017; 45:e50. [PMID: 27980064 PMCID: PMC5397165 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw1252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2016] [Accepted: 12/13/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The delivery of large DNA vectors (>100 000 bp) remains a limiting step in the engineering of mammalian cells and the development of human artificial chromosomes (HACs). Yeast is commonly used to assemble genetic constructs in the megabase size range, and has previously been used to transfer constructs directly into cultured cells. We improved this method to efficiently deliver large (1.1 Mb) synthetic yeast centromeric plasmids (YCps) to cultured cell lines at rates similar to that of 12 kb YCps. Synchronizing cells in mitosis improved the delivery efficiency by 10-fold and a statistical design of experiments approach was employed to boost the vector delivery rate by nearly 300-fold from 1/250 000 to 1/840 cells, and subsequently optimize the delivery process for multiple mammalian, avian, and insect cell lines. We adapted this method to rapidly deliver a 152 kb herpes simplex virus 1 genome cloned in yeast into mammalian cells to produce infectious virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Brown
- Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA.,Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Yujia A Chan
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Prashant J Desai
- Johns Hopkins University, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Johns Hopkins, Viral Oncology Program, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Peter Grzesik
- Johns Hopkins University, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Johns Hopkins, Viral Oncology Program, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Lauren M Oldfield
- Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA
| | - Sanjay Vashee
- Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - John I Glass
- Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA
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41
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Niederhuber MJ, Lambert TJ, Yapp C, Silver PA, Polka JK. Superresolution microscopy of the β-carboxysome reveals a homogeneous matrix. Mol Biol Cell 2017; 28:2734-2745. [PMID: 28963440 PMCID: PMC5620380 DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e17-01-0069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2017] [Revised: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Carbon fixation in cyanobacteria makes a major contribution to the global carbon cycle. The cyanobacterial carboxysome is a proteinaceous microcompartment that protects and concentrates the carbon-fixing enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) in a paracrystalline lattice, making it possible for these organisms to fix CO2 from the atmosphere. The protein responsible for the organization of this lattice in beta-type carboxysomes of the freshwater cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus, CcmM, occurs in two isoforms thought to localize differentially within the carboxysome matrix. Here we use wide-field time-lapse and three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy (3D-SIM) to study the recruitment and localization of these two isoforms. We demonstrate that this superresolution technique is capable of distinguishing the localizations of the outer protein shell of the carboxysome and its internal cargo. We develop an automated analysis pipeline to analyze and quantify 3D-SIM images and generate a population-level description of the carboxysome shell protein, RuBisCO, and CcmM isoform localization. We find that both CcmM isoforms have similar spatial and temporal localization, prompting a revised model of the internal arrangement of the β-carboxysome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Niederhuber
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Talley J Lambert
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Clarence Yapp
- Image and Data Analysis Core, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Jessica K Polka
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 .,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
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42
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Abstract
Synthetic biology aims to develop engineering-driven approaches to the programming of cellular functions that could yield transformative technologies. Synthetic gene circuits that combine DNA, protein, and RNA components have demonstrated a range of functions such as bistability, oscillation, feedback, and logic capabilities. However, it remains challenging to scale up these circuits owing to the limited number of designable, orthogonal, high-performance parts, the empirical and often tedious composition rules, and the requirements for substantial resources for encoding and operation. Here, we report a strategy for constructing RNA-only nanodevices to evaluate complex logic in living cells. Our 'ribocomputing' systems are composed of de-novo-designed parts and operate through predictable and designable base-pairing rules, allowing the effective in silico design of computing devices with prescribed configurations and functions in complex cellular environments. These devices operate at the post-transcriptional level and use an extended RNA transcript to co-localize all circuit sensing, computation, signal transduction, and output elements in the same self-assembled molecular complex, which reduces diffusion-mediated signal losses, lowers metabolic cost, and improves circuit reliability. We demonstrate that ribocomputing devices in Escherichia coli can evaluate two-input logic with a dynamic range up to 900-fold and scale them to four-input AND, six-input OR, and a complex 12-input expression (A1 AND A2 AND NOT A1*) OR (B1 AND B2 AND NOT B2*) OR (C1 AND C2) OR (D1 AND D2) OR (E1 AND E2). Successful operation of ribocomputing devices based on programmable RNA interactions suggests that systems employing the same design principles could be implemented in other host organisms or in extracellular settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander A. Green
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, The Biodesign Institute and the School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Jongmin Kim
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Duo Ma
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, The Biodesign Institute and the School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - James J. Collins
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Department of Biological Engineering, and Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Peng Yin
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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43
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Giessen TW, Silver PA. Engineering carbon fixation with artificial protein organelles. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2017; 46:42-50. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2017.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2016] [Accepted: 01/05/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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44
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Abstract
We demonstrate the synthesis of NH3 from N2 and H2O at ambient conditions in a single reactor by coupling hydrogen generation from catalytic water splitting to a H2-oxidizing bacterium Xanthobacter autotrophicus, which performs N2 and CO2 reduction to solid biomass. Living cells of X. autotrophicus may be directly applied as a biofertilizer to improve growth of radishes, a model crop plant, by up to ∼1,440% in terms of storage root mass. The NH3 generated from nitrogenase (N2ase) in X. autotrophicus can be diverted from biomass formation to an extracellular ammonia production with the addition of a glutamate synthetase inhibitor. The N2 reduction reaction proceeds at a low driving force with a turnover number of 9 × 109 cell-1 and turnover frequency of 1.9 × 104 s-1⋅cell-1 without the use of sacrificial chemical reagents or carbon feedstocks other than CO2 This approach can be powered by renewable electricity, enabling the sustainable and selective production of ammonia and biofertilizers in a distributed manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chong Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
- Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637371
| | - Kelsey K Sakimoto
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Brendan C Colón
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Daniel G Nocera
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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45
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Riglar DT, Giessen TW, Baym M, Kerns SJ, Niederhuber MJ, Bronson RT, Kotula JW, Gerber GK, Way JC, Silver PA. Engineered bacteria can function in the mammalian gut long-term as live diagnostics of inflammation. Nat Biotechnol 2017; 35:653-658. [PMID: 28553941 DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 218] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2016] [Accepted: 04/07/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Bacteria can be engineered to function as diagnostics or therapeutics in the mammalian gut but commercial translation of technologies to accomplish this has been hindered by the susceptibility of synthetic genetic circuits to mutation and unpredictable function during extended gut colonization. Here, we report stable, engineered bacterial strains that maintain their function for 6 months in the mouse gut. We engineered a commensal murine Escherichia coli strain to detect tetrathionate, which is produced during inflammation. Using our engineered diagnostic strain, which retains memory of exposure in the gut for analysis by fecal testing, we detected tetrathionate in both infection-induced and genetic mouse models of inflammation over 6 months. The synthetic genetic circuits in the engineered strain were genetically stable and functioned as intended over time. The durable performance of these strains confirms the potential of engineered bacteria as living diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- David T Riglar
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Tobias W Giessen
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Michael Baym
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - S Jordan Kerns
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Matthew J Niederhuber
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Roderick T Bronson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jonathan W Kotula
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Georg K Gerber
- Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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46
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Hays SG, Yan LLW, Silver PA, Ducat DC. Synthetic photosynthetic consortia define interactions leading to robustness and photoproduction. J Biol Eng 2017; 11:4. [PMID: 28127397 PMCID: PMC5259876 DOI: 10.1186/s13036-017-0048-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2016] [Accepted: 01/05/2017] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Microbial consortia composed of autotrophic and heterotrophic species abound in nature, yet examples of synthetic communities with mixed metabolism are limited in the laboratory. We previously engineered a model cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, to secrete the bulk of the carbon it fixes as sucrose, a carbohydrate that can be utilized by many other microbes. Here, we tested the capability of sucrose-secreting cyanobacteria to act as a flexible platform for the construction of synthetic, light-driven consortia by pairing them with three disparate heterotrophs: Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The comparison of these different co-culture dyads reveals general design principles for the construction of robust autotroph/heterotroph consortia. RESULTS We observed heterotrophic growth dependent upon cyanobacterial photosynthate in each co-culture pair. Furthermore, these synthetic consortia could be stabilized over the long-term (weeks to months) and both species could persist when challenged with specific perturbations. Stability and productivity of autotroph/heterotroph co-cultures was dependent on heterotroph sucrose utilization, as well as other species-independent interactions that we observed across all dyads. One destabilizing interaction we observed was that non-sucrose byproducts of oxygenic photosynthesis negatively impacted heterotroph growth. Conversely, inoculation of each heterotrophic species enhanced cyanobacterial growth in comparison to axenic cultures. Finally, these consortia can be flexibly programmed for photoproduction of target compounds and proteins; by changing the heterotroph in co-culture to specialized strains of B. subtilis or E. coli we demonstrate production of alpha-amylase and polyhydroxybutyrate, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Enabled by the unprecedented flexibility of this consortia design, we uncover species-independent design principles that influence cyanobacteria/heterotroph consortia robustness. The modular nature of these communities and their unusual robustness exhibits promise as a platform for highly-versatile photoproduction strategies that capitalize on multi-species interactions and could be utilized as a tool for the study of nascent symbioses. Further consortia improvements via engineered interventions beyond those we show here (i.e., increased efficiency growing on sucrose) could improve these communities as production platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie G Hays
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA USA
| | - Leo L W Yan
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA.,Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA USA
| | - Daniel C Ducat
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA.,Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA
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47
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Giessen TW, Silver PA. Converting a Natural Protein Compartment into a Nanofactory for the Size-Constrained Synthesis of Antimicrobial Silver Nanoparticles. ACS Synth Biol 2016; 5:1497-1504. [PMID: 27276075 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.6b00117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [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: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Engineered biological systems are used extensively for the production of high value and commodity organics. On the other hand, most inorganic nanomaterials are still synthesized via chemical routes. By engineering cellular compartments, functional nanoarchitectures can be produced under environmentally sustainable conditions. Encapsulins are a new class of microbial nanocompartments with promising applications in nanobiotechnology. Here, we engineer the Thermotoga maritima encapsulin EncTm to yield a designed compartment for the size-constrained synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). These Ag NPs exhibit uniform shape and size distributions as well as long-term stability. Ambient aqueous conditions can be used for Ag NP synthesis, while no reducing agents or solvents need to be added. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized protein-coated or shell-free Ag NPs is superior to that of silver nitrate and citrate-capped Ag NPs. This study establishes encapsulins as an engineerable platform for the synthesis of biogenic functional nanomaterials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias W. Giessen
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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48
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Abstract
Subcellular organization is critical for isolating, concentrating, and protecting biological activities. Natural subcellular organization is often achieved using colocalization of proteins on scaffold molecules, thereby enhancing metabolic fluxes and enabling coregulation. Synthetic scaffolds extend these benefits to new biological processes and are typically constructed from proteins or nucleic acids. To expand the range of available building materials, we use a minimal set of components from the lipid-encapsulated bacteriophage ϕ6 to form synthetic lipid-containing scaffolds (SLSs) in E. coli. Analysis of diffusive behavior by particle tracking in live cells indicates that SLSs are >20 nm in diameter; furthermore, density measurements demonstrate that SLSs contain a mixture of lipids and proteins. The fluorescent proteins mCitrine and mCerulean can be colocalized to SLSs. To test for effects on enzymatic production, we localized two enzymes involved in indigo biosynthesis to SLSs. We observed a scaffold-dependent increase in indigo production, showing that SLSs can enhance the production of a commercially relevant metabolite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron Myhrvold
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 02115, Boston, Massachusetts United States
- Wyss
Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 02115, Boston, Massachusetts United States
| | - Jessica K. Polka
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 02115, Boston, Massachusetts United States
- Wyss
Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 02115, Boston, Massachusetts United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department
of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 02115, Boston, Massachusetts United States
- Wyss
Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 02115, Boston, Massachusetts United States
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49
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Liu X, Lopez PA, Giessen TW, Giles M, Way JC, Silver PA. Engineering Genetically-Encoded Mineralization and Magnetism via Directed Evolution. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38019. [PMID: 27897245 PMCID: PMC5126674 DOI: 10.1038/srep38019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2016] [Accepted: 11/02/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetically encoding the synthesis of functional nanomaterials such as magnetic nanoparticles enables sensitive and non-invasive biological sensing and control. Via directed evolution of the natural iron-sequestering ferritin protein, we discovered key mutations that lead to significantly enhanced cellular magnetism, resulting in increased physical attraction of ferritin-expressing cells to magnets and increased contrast for cellular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The magnetic mutants further demonstrate increased iron biomineralization measured by a novel fluorescent genetic sensor for intracellular free iron. In addition, we engineered Escherichia coli cells with multiple genomic knockouts to increase cellular accumulation of various metals. Lastly to explore further protein candidates for biomagnetism, we characterized members of the DUF892 family using the iron sensor and magnetic columns, confirming their intracellular iron sequestration that results in increased cellular magnetization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueliang Liu
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Paola A Lopez
- Graduate Program in Bioengineering UC Berkeley/UCSF, Department of Bioengineering, 306 Stanley Hall #1762, University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-1762, USA
| | - Tobias W Giessen
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michael Giles
- Harvard College, Harvard University Harvard College, 86 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Way
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela A Silver
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 3 Blackfan Circle, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave, Alpert 536, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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50
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Giessen TW, Silver PA. A Catalytic Nanoreactor Based on in Vivo Encapsulation of Multiple Enzymes in an Engineered Protein Nanocompartment. Chembiochem 2016; 17:1931-1935. [DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201600431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tobias W. Giessen
- Department of Systems Biology; Harvard Medical School; 200 Longwood Avenue WAB 536 Boston MA 02115 USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering; Harvard University; 3 Blackfan Circle Boston MA 02115 USA
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology; Harvard Medical School; 200 Longwood Avenue WAB 536 Boston MA 02115 USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering; Harvard University; 3 Blackfan Circle Boston MA 02115 USA
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