RNA-based networks: using RNA aptamers and ribozymes as synthetic genetic devices

Aptazyme-Based Riboswitches and Logic Gates in Mammalian Cells

This chapter describes a screening strategy to engineer synthetic riboswitches that can chemically regulate gene expression in mammalian cells. Riboswitch libraries are constructed by randomizing the key nucleotides that couple the molecular recognition function of an aptamer with the self-cleavage activity of a ribozyme. The allosteric ribozyme (aptazyme) candidates are cloned in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of a reporter gene mRNA. The plasmid-encoded riboswitch candidates are transfected into a mammalian cell line to screen for the desired riboswitch function. Furthermore, multiple aptazymes can be cloned into the 3' UTR of a desired gene to obtain a logic gate response to multiple chemical signals. This screening strategy complements other methods to engineer robust mammalian riboswitches to control gene expression.

Aptamers and Aptasensors for Highly Specific Recognition and Sensitive Detection of Marine Biotoxins: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Marine biotoxins distribute widely, have high toxicity, and can be easily accumulated in water or seafood, exposing a serious threat to consumer health. Achieving specific and sensitive detection is the most effective way to prevent emergent issues caused by marine biotoxins; however, the previous detection methods cannot meet the requirements because of ethical or technical drawbacks. Aptamers, a kind of novel recognition element with high affinity and specificity, can be used to fabricate various aptasensors (aptamer-based biosensors) for sensitive and rapid detection. In recent years, an increasing number of aptamers and aptasensors have greatly promoted the development of marine biotoxins detection. In this review, we summarized the recent aptamer-related advances for marine biotoxins detection and discussed their perspectives. Firstly, we summarized the sequences, selection methods, affinity, secondary structures, and the ion conditions of all aptamers to provide a database-like information; secondly, we summarized the reported aptasensors for marine biotoxins, including principles, detection sensitivity, linear detection range, etc.; thirdly, on the basis of the existing reports and our own research experience, we forecast the development prospects of aptamers and aptasensors for marine biotoxins detection. We hope this review not only provides a comprehensive summary of aptamer selection and aptasensor development for marine biotoxins, but also arouses a broad readership amongst academic researchers and industrial chemists.

Synthetic artificial "long non-coding RNAs" targeting oncogenic microRNAs and transcriptional factors inhibit malignant phenotypes of bladder cancer cells

Both oncogenic transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in human cancers, acting as transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators, respectively. These phenomena raise questions about the ability of an artificial device to simultaneously regulate miRNAs and TFs. In this study, we aimed to construct artificial long non-coding RNAs, "alncRNAs", and to investigate their therapeutic effects on bladder cancer cell lines. Based on engineering principles of synthetic biology, we combined tandem arrayed aptamer cDNA sequences for TFs with tandem arrayed cDNA copies of binding sites for the miRNAs to construct alncRNAs. In order to prove the utility of this platform, we chose β-catenin and the miR-183-182-96 cluster as the functional targets and used the bladder cancer cell lines 5637 and SW780 as the test models. Dual-luciferase reporter assay, real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and related phenotypic experiments were used to test the expression of related genes and the therapeutic effects of our devices. The result of dual-luciferase reporter assay and qRT-PCR showed that alncRNAs could inhibit transcriptional activity of TFs and expression of corresponding microRNAs. Using functional experiments, we observed decreased cell proliferation, increased apoptosis, and motility inhibition in alncRNA-infected bladder cancer cells. What's more, follow-up mechanism experiments further confirmed the anti-tumor effect of our devices. In summary, our synthetic devices indeed function as anti-tumor regulators, which synchronously accomplish transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation in bladder cancer cells. Most importantly, anti-cancer effects were induced by the synthetic alncRNAs in the bladder cancer lines. Our devices, all in all, provided a novel strategy and methodology for cancer studies, and might show a great potential for cancer therapy if the challenges of in vivo DNA delivery are overcome.

Molecular Buffers Permit Sensitivity Tuning and Inversion of Riboswitch Signals

Predictable integration of foreign biological signals and parts remains a key challenge in the systematic engineering of synthetic cellular actuations, and general methods to improve signal transduction and sensitivity are needed. To address this problem we modeled and built a molecular signal buffer network in Saccharomyces cerevisiae inspired by chemical pH buffer systems. The molecular buffer system context-insulates a riboswitch enabling synthetic control of colony formation and modular signal manipulations. The riboswitch signal is relayed to a transcriptional activation domain of a split transcription factor, while interacting DNA-binding domains mediate the transduction of signal and form an interacting molecular buffer. The molecular buffer system enables modular signal inversion through integration with repressor modules. Further, tuning of input sensitivity was achieved through perturbation of the buffer pair ratio guided by a mathematical model. Such buffered signal tuning networks will be useful for domestication of RNA-based sensors enabling tunable outputs and library-wide selections for drug discovery and metabolic engineering.

Aptazyme-based riboswitches and logic gates in mammalian cells

This chapter describes a screening strategy to engineer synthetic riboswitches that can chemically regulate gene expression in mammalian cells. Riboswitch libraries are constructed by randomizing the key nucleotides that couple the molecular recognition function of an aptamer with the self-cleavage activity of a ribozyme. The allosteric ribozyme (aptazyme) candidates are cloned in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of a reporter gene mRNA. The plasmid-encoded riboswitch candidates are transfected into a mammalian cell line to screen for the desired riboswitch function. Furthermore, multiple aptazymes can be cloned into the 3' UTR of a desired gene to obtain a logic gate response to multiple chemical signals. This screening strategy complements other methods to engineer robust mammalian riboswitches to control gene expression.

A Panel of Protease-Responsive RNA Polymerases Respond to Biochemical Signals by Production of Defined RNA Outputs in Live Cells

RNA is an attractive biomolecule for biosensing and engineering applications due to its information storage capacity and ability to drive gene expression or knockdown. However, methods to link chemical signals to the production of specific RNAs are lacking. Here, we develop protease-responsive RNA polymerases (PRs) as a strategy to encode multiple specific proteolytic events in defined sequences of RNA in live mammalian cells. This work demonstrates that RNAP-based molecular recording devices can be deployed for multimodal analyses of biochemical activities or to trigger gene circuits using measured signaling events.

Design criteria for synthetic riboswitches acting on transcription

Riboswitches are RNA-based regulators of gene expression composed of a ligand-sensing aptamer domain followed by an overlapping expression platform. The regulation occurs at either the level of transcription (by formation of terminator or antiterminator structures) or translation (by presentation or sequestering of the ribosomal binding site). Due to a modular composition, these elements can be manipulated by combining different aptamers and expression platforms and therefore represent useful tools to regulate gene expression in synthetic biology. Using computationally designed theophylline-dependent riboswitches we show that 2 parameters, terminator hairpin stability and folding traps, have a major impact on the functionality of the designed constructs. These have to be considered very carefully during design phase. Furthermore, a combination of several copies of individual riboswitches leads to a much improved activation ratio between induced and uninduced gene activity and to a linear dose-dependent increase in reporter gene expression. Such serial arrangements of synthetic riboswitches closely resemble their natural counterparts and may form the basis for simple quantitative read out systems for the detection of specific target molecules in the cell.

Optimization of a whole-cell biocatalyst by employing genetically encoded product sensors inside nanolitre reactors

Microcompartmentalization offers a high-throughput method for screening large numbers of biocatalysts generated from genetic libraries. Here we present a microcompartmentalization protocol for benchmarking the performance of whole-cell biocatalysts. Gel capsules served as nanolitre reactors (nLRs) for the cultivation and analysis of a library of Bacillus subtilis biocatalysts. The B. subtilis cells, which were co-confined with E. coli sensor cells inside the nLRs, converted the starting material cellobiose into the industrial product vitamin B2. Product formation triggered a sequence of reactions in the sensor cells: (1) conversion of B2 into flavin mononucleotide (FMN), (2) binding of FMN by a RNA riboswitch and (3) self-cleavage of RNA, which resulted in (4) the synthesis of a green fluorescent protein (GFP). The intensity of GFP fluorescence was then used to isolate B. subtilis variants that convert cellobiose into vitamin B2 with elevated efficiency. The underlying design principles of the assay are general and enable the development of similar protocols, which ultimately will speed up the optimization of whole-cell biocatalysts.

Yeast synthetic biology toolbox and applications for biofuel production

Yeasts are efficient biofuel producers with numerous advantages outcompeting bacterial counterparts. While most synthetic biology tools have been developed and customized for bacteria especially for Escherichia coli, yeast synthetic biological tools have been exploited for improving yeast to produce fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass. Here we review the current status of synthetic biological tools and their applications for biofuel production, focusing on the model strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae We describe assembly techniques that have been developed for constructing genes, pathways, and genomes in yeast. Moreover, we discuss synthetic parts for allowing precise control of gene expression at both transcriptional and translational levels. Applications of these synthetic biological approaches have led to identification of effective gene targets that are responsible for desirable traits, such as cellulosic sugar utilization, advanced biofuel production, and enhanced tolerance against toxic products for biofuel production from renewable biomass. Although an array of synthetic biology tools and devices are available, we observed some gaps existing in tool development to achieve industrial utilization. Looking forward, future tool development should focus on industrial cultivation conditions utilizing industrial strains.

Synthesizing oncogenic signal-processing systems that function as both "signal counters" and "signal blockers" in cancer cells

RNA-protein interaction plays a significant role in regulating eukaryotic translation. This phenomenon raises questions about the ability of artificial biological systems to take the advantage of protein-RNA interaction. Here, we designed an oncogenic signal-processing system expressing both a Renilla luciferase reporter gene controlled by RNA-protein interaction in its 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) and a Firefly luciferase normalization gene. To test the ability of the designed system, we then constructed vectors targeting the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) or the β-catenin signal. We found that the inhibition (%) of luciferase expression was correlated to the targeted protein content, allowing quantitative measurement of oncogenic signal intensity in cancer cells. The systems inhibited the expression of oncogenic signal downstream genes and induced bladder cancer cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis without affecting normal urothelial cells. Compared to traditional methods (ELISA and quantitative immunoblotting), the bio-systems provided highly accurate, consistent, and reproducible quantification of protein signals and were able to discriminate between cancerous and non-cancerous cells. In conclusion, the synthetic systems function as both "signal counters" and "signal blockers" in cancer cells. This approach provides a synthetic biology platform for oncogenic signal measurement and cancer treatment.

Metabolic sensors and their interplay with cell signalling and transcription

There is an intimate, yet poorly understood, link between cellular metabolic status, cell signalling and transcription. Central metabolic pathways are under the control of signalling pathways and, vice versa, the cellular metabolic profile influences cell signalling through the incorporation of various metabolic sensors into the signalling networks. Thus information about nutrients availability directly and crucially influences crucial cell decisions. In the present review, I summarize our current knowledge of various metabolic sensors and give some examples of the integration of metabolically derived inputs into the signalling system and the regulation of transcription. I also discuss the Warburg effect where the cross-talk between metabolism and signalling is used to orchestrate rapid cell growth and division. It is becoming clear that future research will concentrate on the collection of small-molecule metabolites, whose concentration fluctuates in response to cellular energy levels, searching for their sensors that connect them to the signalling and transcriptional networks.