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Yan X, Liu X, Zhao C, Chen GQ. Applications of synthetic biology in medical and pharmaceutical fields. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2023; 8:199. [PMID: 37169742 PMCID: PMC10173249 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01440-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2022] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Synthetic biology aims to design or assemble existing bioparts or bio-components for useful bioproperties. During the past decades, progresses have been made to build delicate biocircuits, standardized biological building blocks and to develop various genomic/metabolic engineering tools and approaches. Medical and pharmaceutical demands have also pushed the development of synthetic biology, including integration of heterologous pathways into designer cells to efficiently produce medical agents, enhanced yields of natural products in cell growth media to equal or higher than that of the extracts from plants or fungi, constructions of novel genetic circuits for tumor targeting, controllable releases of therapeutic agents in response to specific biomarkers to fight diseases such as diabetes and cancers. Besides, new strategies are developed to treat complex immune diseases, infectious diseases and metabolic disorders that are hard to cure via traditional approaches. In general, synthetic biology brings new capabilities to medical and pharmaceutical researches. This review summarizes the timeline of synthetic biology developments, the past and present of synthetic biology for microbial productions of pharmaceutics, engineered cells equipped with synthetic DNA circuits for diagnosis and therapies, live and auto-assemblied biomaterials for medical treatments, cell-free synthetic biology in medical and pharmaceutical fields, and DNA engineering approaches with potentials for biomedical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Yan
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China
| | - Xu Liu
- PhaBuilder Biotech Co. Ltd., Shunyi District, Zhaoquan Ying, 101309, Beijing, China
| | - Cuihuan Zhao
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China
| | - Guo-Qiang Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China.
- Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China.
- MOE Key Lab for Industrial Biocatalysis, Dept Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China.
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Kropp C, Bruckmann A, Babinger P. Controlling Enzymatic Activity by Modulating the Oligomerization State via Chemical Rescue and Optical Control. Chembiochem 2021; 23:e202100490. [PMID: 34633135 PMCID: PMC9298306 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202100490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Selective switching of enzymatic activity has been a longstanding goal in synthetic biology. Drastic changes in activity upon mutational manipulation of the oligomerization state of enzymes have frequently been reported in the literature, but scarcely exploited for switching. Using geranylgeranylglyceryl phosphate synthase as a model, we demonstrate that catalytic activity can be efficiently controlled by exogenous modulation of the association state. We introduced a lysine‐to‐cysteine mutation, leading to the breakdown of the active hexamer into dimers with impaired catalytic efficiency. Addition of bromoethylamine chemically rescued the enzyme by restoring hexamerization and activity. As an alternative method, we incorporated the photosensitive unnatural amino acid o‐nitrobenzyl‐O‐tyrosine (ONBY) into the hexamerization interface. This again led to inactive dimers, but the hexameric state and activity could be recovered by UV‐light induced cleavage of ONBY. For both approaches, we obtained switching factors greater than 350‐fold, which compares favorably with previously reported activity changes that were caused by site‐directed mutagenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cosimo Kropp
- Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry, Regensburg Center for Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, 93040, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Astrid Bruckmann
- Institute of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Regensburg Center for Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, 93040, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Patrick Babinger
- Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry, Regensburg Center for Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, 93040, Regensburg, Germany
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Cao W, Qin X, Wang Y, Dai Z, Dai X, Wang H, Xuan W, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Liu T. A General Supramolecular Approach to Regulate Protein Functions by Cucurbit[7]uril and Unnatural Amino Acid Recognition. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202100916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Wenbing Cao
- College of Chemistry State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry Nankai University 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300071 P. R. China
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District Beijing 100191 China
| | - Xuewen Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District Beijing 100191 China
| | - Yong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District Beijing 100191 China
| | - Zhen Dai
- College of Chemistry State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry Nankai University 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300071 P. R. China
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District Beijing 100191 China
| | - Xianyin Dai
- College of Chemistry State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry Nankai University 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300071 P. R. China
| | - Haoyu Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District Beijing 100191 China
| | - Weimin Xuan
- College of Chemistry State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry Nankai University 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300071 P. R. China
| | - Yingming Zhang
- College of Chemistry State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry Nankai University 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300071 P. R. China
| | - Yu Liu
- College of Chemistry State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry Nankai University 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300071 P. R. China
| | - Tao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District Beijing 100191 China
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Cao W, Qin X, Wang Y, Dai Z, Dai X, Wang H, Xuan W, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Liu T. A General Supramolecular Approach to Regulate Protein Functions by Cucurbit[7]uril and Unnatural Amino Acid Recognition. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021; 60:11196-11200. [PMID: 33580548 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202100916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Regulation of specific protein function is of great importance for both research and therapeutic development. Many small or large molecules have been developed to control specific protein function, but there is a lack of a universal approach to regulate the function of any given protein. We report a general host-guest molecular recognition approach involving modification of the protein functional surfaces with genetically encoded unnatural amino acids bearing guest side chains that can be specifically recognized by cucurbit[7]uril. Using two enzymes and a cytokine as models, we showed that the activity of proteins bearing unnatural amino acid could be turned off by host molecule binding, which blocked its functional binding surface. Protein activity can be switched back by treatment with a competitive guest molecule. Our approach provides a general tool for reversibly regulating protein function through molecular recognition and can be expected to be valuable for studying protein functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenbing Cao
- College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China.,State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Xuewen Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Yong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Zhen Dai
- College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China.,State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Xianyin Dai
- College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China
| | - Haoyu Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Weimin Xuan
- College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China
| | - Yingming Zhang
- College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China
| | - Yu Liu
- College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China
| | - Tao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
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Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards: A. K. Boal, A. Chatterjee, D. E. Freedman, J. B. Matson, M. R. Seyedsayamdost, M. G. Shapiro / SCIEX Microscale Separations Innovations Medal and Award: A. E. Herr / ChemPubSocEurope Early Career Award: J. L. Zhang. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201808466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards: A. K. Boal, A. Chatterjee, D. E. Freedman, J. B. Matson, M. R. Seyedsayamdost, M. G. Shapiro / SCIEX Microscale Separations Innovations Medal and Award: A. E. Herr / ChemPubSocEurope Early Career Award: J. L. Zhang. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201808466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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