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Kelwick RJR, Webb AJ, Heliot A, Segura CT, Freemont PS. Opportunities to accelerate extracellular vesicle research with cell-free synthetic biology. JOURNAL OF EXTRACELLULAR BIOLOGY 2023; 2:e90. [PMID: 38938277 PMCID: PMC11080881 DOI: 10.1002/jex2.90] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-membrane nanoparticles that are shed or secreted by many different cell types. The EV research community has rapidly expanded in recent years and is leading efforts to deepen our understanding of EV biological functions in human physiology and pathology. These insights are also providing a foundation on which future EV-based diagnostics and therapeutics are poised to positively impact human health. However, current limitations in our understanding of EV heterogeneity, cargo loading mechanisms and the nascent development of EV metrology are all areas that have been identified as important scientific challenges. The field of synthetic biology is also contending with the challenge of understanding biological complexity as it seeks to combine multidisciplinary scientific knowledge with engineering principles, to build useful and robust biotechnologies in a responsible manner. Within this context, cell-free systems have emerged as a powerful suite of in vitro biotechnologies that can be employed to interrogate fundamental biological mechanisms, including the study of aspects of EV biogenesis, or to act as a platform technology for medical biosensors and therapeutic biomanufacturing. Cell-free gene expression (CFE) systems also enable in vitro protein production, including membrane proteins, and could conceivably be exploited to rationally engineer, or manufacture, EVs loaded with bespoke molecular cargoes for use in foundational or translational EV research. Our pilot data herein, also demonstrates the feasibility of cell-free EV engineering. In this perspective, we discuss the opportunities and challenges for accelerating EV research and healthcare applications with cell-free synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J. R. Kelwick
- Section of Structural and Synthetic BiologyDepartment of Infectious DiseaseImperial College LondonLondonUK
| | - Alexander J. Webb
- Section of Structural and Synthetic BiologyDepartment of Infectious DiseaseImperial College LondonLondonUK
| | - Amelie Heliot
- Section of Structural and Synthetic BiologyDepartment of Infectious DiseaseImperial College LondonLondonUK
| | | | - Paul S. Freemont
- Section of Structural and Synthetic BiologyDepartment of Infectious DiseaseImperial College LondonLondonUK
- The London BiofoundryImperial College Translation & Innovation HubLondonUK
- UK Dementia Research Institute Care Research and Technology CentreImperial College London, Hammersmith CampusLondonUK
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Nagappa LK, Sato W, Alam F, Chengan K, Smales CM, Von Der Haar T, Polizzi KM, Adamala KP, Moore SJ. A ubiquitous amino acid source for prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell-free transcription-translation systems. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:992708. [PMID: 36185432 PMCID: PMC9524191 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.992708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell-free gene expression (CFE) systems are an attractive tool for engineering within synthetic biology and for industrial production of high-value recombinant proteins. CFE reactions require a cell extract, energy system, amino acids, and DNA, to catalyse mRNA transcription and protein synthesis. To provide an amino acid source, CFE systems typically use a commercial standard, which is often proprietary. Herein we show that a range of common microbiology rich media (i.e., tryptone, peptone, yeast extract and casamino acids) unexpectedly provide an effective and low-cost amino acid source. We show that this approach is generalisable, by comparing batch variability and protein production in the following range of CFE systems: Escherichia coli (Rosetta™ 2 (DE3), BL21(DE3)), Streptomyces venezuelae and Pichia pastoris. In all CFE systems, we show equivalent or increased protein synthesis capacity upon replacement of the commercial amino acid source. In conclusion, we suggest rich microbiology media provides a new amino acid source for CFE systems with potential broad use in synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wakana Sato
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Farzana Alam
- Centre for Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | - Karen M Polizzi
- Centre for Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Katarzyna P Adamala
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Simon J Moore
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
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