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Zhuang S, Liu H, Inglis DW, Li M. Tuneable Cell-Laden Double-Emulsion Droplets for Enhanced Signal Detection. Anal Chem 2023; 95:2039-2046. [PMID: 36634052 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c04697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) or double-emulsion (DE) droplets have been widely used for cellular assays at a single-cell level because of their stability and biocompatibility. The oil shell of w/o/w droplets plays the role of a semipermeable membrane that allows substances with low molecular weight (e.g., water) to travel through but restricts those with high molecular weight (e.g., fluorescent biomarkers). Therefore, the core of DEs can be manipulated using osmosis, resulting in the shrinking or swelling of the core. Water leaves the inner aqueous phase to the outer phase via the oil shell when the osmotic pressure of the outer phase is higher than that in the inner phase, causing the shrinkage of DEs and vice versa. These processes can be achieved by transferring the DEs to hypertonic or hypotonic solutions. Manipulation of the core size of DEs can be beneficial to cellular assays. First, due to the selectivity of the oil shell of DEs, the concentration of biomarkers in the core increases when the inner aqueous phase is shrunk, resulting in the enhancement of biosignals. We demonstrate this by encapsulating the Bgl3 enzyme-secreting yeast with a substrate that displays fluorescence after hydrolyzation. In a second application, a single GFP-tagged yeast cell was encapsulated in DEs. After swelling the core of DEs, we observe that the larger core of DEs promotes cell growth compared to those with the smaller cores, leading to more intracellular proteins (green-fluorescent protein) for screening. These osmotic manipulations provide new tools for droplet-based biochemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyuan Zhuang
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Hangrui Liu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - David W Inglis
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Ming Li
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- Biomolecular Discovery Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
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2
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Li M, Liu H, Zhuang S, Goda K. Droplet flow cytometry for single-cell analysis. RSC Adv 2021; 11:20944-20960. [PMID: 35479393 PMCID: PMC9034116 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra02636d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The interrogation of single cells has revolutionised biology and medicine by providing crucial unparalleled insights into cell-to-cell heterogeneity. Flow cytometry (including fluorescence-activated cell sorting) is one of the most versatile and high-throughput approaches for single-cell analysis by detecting multiple fluorescence parameters of individual cells in aqueous suspension as they flow past through a focus of excitation lasers. However, this approach relies on the expression of cell surface and intracellular biomarkers, which inevitably lacks spatial and temporal phenotypes and activities of cells, such as secreted proteins, extracellular metabolite production, and proliferation. Droplet microfluidics has recently emerged as a powerful tool for the encapsulation and manipulation of thousands to millions of individual cells within pico-litre microdroplets. Integrating flow cytometry with microdroplet architectures surrounded by aqueous solutions (e.g., water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsion and hydrogel droplets) opens avenues for new cellular assays linking cell phenotypes to genotypes at the single-cell level. In this review, we discuss the capabilities and applications of droplet flow cytometry (DFC). This unique technique uses standard commercially available flow cytometry instruments to characterise or select individual microdroplets containing single cells of interest. We explore current challenges associated with DFC and present our visions for future development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Li
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Australia
- Biomolecular Discovery Research Centre, Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Australia
| | - Hangrui Liu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Australia
| | - Siyuan Zhuang
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Australia
| | - Keisuke Goda
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Tokyo Tokyo 113-0033 Japan
- Institute of Technological Sciences, Wuhan University 430072 Hubei PR China
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles CA 90095 USA
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3
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Zhang M, Li Q, Lan X, Li X, Zhang Y, Wang Z, Zheng J. Directed evolution of Aspergillus oryzae lipase for the efficient resolution of (R,S)-ethyl-2-(4-hydroxyphenoxy) propanoate. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 2020; 43:2131-2141. [PMID: 32959146 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-020-02393-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 06/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Aspergillus oryzae lipase (AOL) is a potential biocatalyst for industrial application. In this study, a mutant lipase AOL-3F38N/V230R was screened through two rounds of directed evolution, resulting in a fourfold increase in lipase activity, and threefold in catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km), while maintaining its excellent stereoselectivity. AOL-3F38N/V230R enzyme activity was maximum at pH 7.5 and also at 40 °C. And compared with wild-type AOL-3, AOL-3F38N/V230R preferentially hydrolyzed the fatty acid ethyl ester carbon chain length from C4 to C6-C10. In the same catalytic reaction conditions, the conversion of (R,S)-ethyl-2-(4-hydroxyphenoxy) propanoate ((R,S)-EHPP) by AOL-3F38N/V230R can be increased 169.7% compared to the original enzyme. The e.e.s of (R,S)-EHPP achieved 99.4% and conversion about 50.2% with E value being 829.0. Therefore, AOL-3F38N/V230R was a potential biocatalyst for obtaining key chiral compounds for aryloxyphenoxy propionate (APP) herbicides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengjie Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Qi Li
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Xing Lan
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaojun Li
- School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Xinyu University, Xinyu, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Yinjun Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhao Wang
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianyong Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
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Markel U, Essani KD, Besirlioglu V, Schiffels J, Streit WR, Schwaneberg U. Advances in ultrahigh-throughput screening for directed enzyme evolution. Chem Soc Rev 2020; 49:233-262. [PMID: 31815263 DOI: 10.1039/c8cs00981c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Enzymes are versatile catalysts and their synthetic potential has been recognized for a long time. In order to exploit their full potential, enzymes often need to be re-engineered or optimized for a given application. (Semi-) rational design has emerged as a powerful means to engineer proteins, but requires detailed knowledge about structure function relationships. In turn, directed evolution methodologies, which consist of iterative rounds of diversity generation and screening, can improve an enzyme's properties with virtually no structural knowledge. Current diversity generation methods grant us access to a vast sequence space (libraries of >1012 enzyme variants) that may hide yet unexplored catalytic activities and selectivity. However, the time investment for conventional agar plate or microtiter plate-based screening assays represents a major bottleneck in directed evolution and limits the improvements that are obtainable in reasonable time. Ultrahigh-throughput screening (uHTS) methods dramatically increase the number of screening events per time, which is crucial to speed up biocatalyst design, and to widen our knowledge about sequence function relationships. In this review, we summarize recent advances in uHTS for directed enzyme evolution. We shed light on the importance of compartmentalization to preserve the essential link between genotype and phenotype and discuss how cells and biomimetic compartments can be applied to serve this function. Finally, we discuss how uHTS can inspire novel functional metagenomics approaches to identify natural biocatalysts for novel chemical transformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrich Markel
- Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 3, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
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5
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Contreras-Llano LE, Tan C. High-throughput screening of biomolecules using cell-free gene expression systems. Synth Biol (Oxf) 2018; 3:ysy012. [PMID: 32995520 PMCID: PMC7445777 DOI: 10.1093/synbio/ysy012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2017] [Revised: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The incorporation of cell-free transcription and translation systems into high-throughput screening applications enables the in situ and on-demand expression of peptides and proteins. Coupled with modern microfluidic technology, the cell-free methods allow the screening, directed evolution and selection of desired biomolecules in minimal volumes within a short timescale. Cell-free high-throughput screening applications are classified broadly into in vitro display and on-chip technologies. In this review, we outline the development of cell-free high-throughput screening methods. We further discuss operating principles and representative applications of each screening method. The cell-free high-throughput screening methods may be advanced by the future development of new cell-free systems, miniaturization approaches, and automation technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cheemeng Tan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
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6
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Zhang J, Cai Y, Du G, Chen J, Wang M, Kang Z. Evaluation and application of constitutive promoters for cutinase production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Microbiol 2017; 55:538-544. [PMID: 28664516 DOI: 10.1007/s12275-017-6514-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2016] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/10/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Cutinase as a promising biocatalyst has been intensively studied and applied in processes targeted for industrial scale. In this work, the cutinase gene tfu from Thermobifida fusca was artificially synthesized according to codon usage bias of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and investigated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using the α-factor signal peptide, the T. fusca cutinase was successfully overexpressed and secreted with the GAL1 expression system. To increase the cutinase level and overcome some of the drawbacks of induction, four different strong promoters (ADH1, HXT1, TEF1, and TDH3) were comparatively evaluated for cutinase production. By comparison, promoter TEF1 exhibited an outstanding property and significantly increased the expression level. By fed-batch fermentation with a constant feeding approach, the activity of cutinase was increased to 29.7 U/ml. The result will contribute to apply constitutive promoter TEF1 as a tool for targeted cutinase production in S. cerevisiae cell factory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Zhang
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China. .,School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.
| | - Yanqiu Cai
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China
| | - Guocheng Du
- School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.,The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China
| | - Jian Chen
- School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.,National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China
| | - Miao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Jiangsu, 214122, P. R. China
| | - Zhen Kang
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China. .,School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.
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7
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Ma F, Fischer M, Han Y, Withers SG, Feng Y, Yang GY. Substrate Engineering Enabling Fluorescence Droplet Entrapment for IVC-FACS-Based Ultrahigh-Throughput Screening. Anal Chem 2016; 88:8587-95. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b01712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Fuqiang Ma
- State
Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and
Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Michael Fischer
- Department
of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Yunbin Han
- State
Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and
Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Stephen G. Withers
- Department
of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Yan Feng
- State
Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and
Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Guang-Yu Yang
- State
Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and
Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
- Shanghai
Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomanufacturing (SCICB), East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China
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8
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Fich EA, Segerson NA, Rose JKC. The Plant Polyester Cutin: Biosynthesis, Structure, and Biological Roles. ANNUAL REVIEW OF PLANT BIOLOGY 2016; 67:207-33. [PMID: 26865339 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-043015-111929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 204] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Cutin, a polyester composed mostly of oxygenated fatty acids, serves as the framework of the plant cuticle. The same types of cutin monomers occur across most plant lineages, although some evolutionary trends are evident. Additionally, cutins from some species have monomer profiles that are characteristic of the related polymer suberin. Compositional differences likely have profound structural consequences, but little is known about cutin's molecular organization and architectural heterogeneity. Its biological importance is suggested by the wide variety of associated mutants and gene-silencing lines that show a disruption of cuticular integrity, giving rise to numerous physiological and developmental abnormalities. Mapping and characterization of these mutants, along with suppression of gene paralogs through RNA interference, have revealed much of the biosynthetic pathway and several regulatory factors; however, the mechanisms of cutin polymerization and its interactions with other cuticle and cell wall components are only now beginning to be resolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric A Fich
- Section of Plant Biology, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853; , ,
| | - Nicholas A Segerson
- Section of Plant Biology, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853; , ,
| | - Jocelyn K C Rose
- Section of Plant Biology, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853; , ,
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