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Prochazka L, Michaels YS, Lau C, Jones RD, Siu M, Yin T, Wu D, Jang E, Vázquez‐Cantú M, Gilbert PM, Kaul H, Benenson Y, Zandstra PW. Synthetic gene circuits for cell state detection and protein tuning in human pluripotent stem cells. Mol Syst Biol 2022; 18:e10886. [PMID: 36366891 PMCID: PMC9650275 DOI: 10.15252/msb.202110886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
During development, cell state transitions are coordinated through changes in the identity of molecular regulators in a cell type‐ and dose‐specific manner. The ability to rationally engineer such transitions in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) will enable numerous applications in regenerative medicine. Herein, we report the generation of synthetic gene circuits that can detect a desired cell state using AND‐like logic integration of endogenous miRNAs (classifiers) and, upon detection, produce fine‐tuned levels of output proteins using an miRNA‐mediated output fine‐tuning technology (miSFITs). Specifically, we created an “hPSC ON” circuit using a model‐guided miRNA selection and circuit optimization approach. The circuit demonstrates robust PSC‐specific detection and graded output protein production. Next, we used an empirical approach to create an “hPSC‐Off” circuit. This circuit was applied to regulate the secretion of endogenous BMP4 in a state‐specific and fine‐tuned manner to control the composition of differentiating hPSCs. Our work provides a platform for customized cell state‐specific control of desired physiological factors in hPSC, laying the foundation for programming cell compositions in hPSC‐derived tissues and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Prochazka
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
| | - Yale S Michaels
- Michael Smith Laboratories University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- School of Biomedical Engineering University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Charles Lau
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Michael Smith Laboratories University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- School of Biomedical Engineering University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Ross D Jones
- Michael Smith Laboratories University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- School of Biomedical Engineering University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Mona Siu
- Michael Smith Laboratories University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- School of Biomedical Engineering University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Ting Yin
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
| | - Diana Wu
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
| | - Esther Jang
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
| | - Mercedes Vázquez‐Cantú
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D‐BSSE) Basel Switzerland
| | - Penney M Gilbert
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
| | - Himanshu Kaul
- School of Engineering University of Leicester Leicester UK
- Department of Respiratory Sciences University of Leicester Leicester UK
| | - Yaakov Benenson
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D‐BSSE) Basel Switzerland
| | - Peter W Zandstra
- Michael Smith Laboratories University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- School of Biomedical Engineering University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
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Angelici B, Shen L, Schreiber J, Abraham A, Benenson Y. An AAV gene therapy computes over multiple cellular inputs to enable precise targeting of multifocal hepatocellular carcinoma in mice. Sci Transl Med 2021; 13:eabh4456. [PMID: 34910545 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abh4456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
[Figure: see text].
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Affiliation(s)
- Bartolomeo Angelici
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland
| | - Linling Shen
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.,Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, Mattenstrasse 24a, Basel 4058, Switzerland
| | - Joerg Schreiber
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland
| | - Anthony Abraham
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland
| | - Yaakov Benenson
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland
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Yang J, Ding S. Engineering L7Ae for RNA-Only Delivery Kill Switch Targeting CMS2 Type Colorectal Cancer Cells. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:1095-1105. [PMID: 33939419 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The lack of specific-targeting therapy to precisely identify and kill malignant cells while sparing others is a great challenge in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. In the era of molecular classification of tumors, CRC has been grouped into four Consensus Molecular Subtypes. Accounting for 37% of all types, the CMS2 group (canonical type) shows distinguishing features: WNT and MYC signaling activation. In this study, we designed an RNA-only delivery kill switch to specifically eliminate CMS2 type CRC cells. The sensing and logic processing functions are integrated by the newly engineered L7Ae, which can not only detect the stability of β-catenin protein and the presence of cytoplasm located Myc/Myc-nick, but also do logic computation. The circuit specifically eliminated HCT-116 cells while sparing other kinds of cells, showing a proof-of-principle approach to precisely target CMS2 type CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiong Yang
- Department of Gastroenterology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Helicobacter pylori Infection and Upper Gastrointestinal Diseases, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Shigang Ding
- Department of Gastroenterology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Helicobacter pylori Infection and Upper Gastrointestinal Diseases, Beijing 100191, China
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Liu Y, Huang W, Cai Z. Synthesizing AND gate minigene circuits based on CRISPReader for identification of bladder cancer cells. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5486. [PMID: 33127914 PMCID: PMC7599332 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19314-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The logical AND gate gene circuit based on the CRISPR-Cas9 system can distinguish bladder cancer cells from normal bladder epithelial cells. However, the layered artificial gene circuits have the problems of high complexity, difficulty in accurately predicting the behavior, and excessive redundancy, which cannot be applied to clinical translation. Here, we construct minigene circuits based on the CRISPReader, a technology used to control promoter-less gene expression in a robust manner. The minigene circuits significantly induce robust gene expression output in bladder cancer cells, but have nearly undetectable gene expression in normal bladder epithelial cells. The minigene circuits show a higher capability for cancer identification and intervention when compared with traditional gene circuits, and could be used for in vivo cancer gene therapy using the all-in-one AAV vector. This approach expands the design ideas and concepts of gene circuits in medical synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchen Liu
- National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Medical Synthetic Biology, Institute of Translational Medicine, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China. .,Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China. .,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology for Urogenital Tumors, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Weiren Huang
- National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Medical Synthetic Biology, Institute of Translational Medicine, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China.,Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology for Urogenital Tumors, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhiming Cai
- National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Medical Synthetic Biology, Institute of Translational Medicine, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China.,Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology for Urogenital Tumors, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, 518035, Shenzhen, China
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Abstract
Engineered immune-cell-based cancer therapies have demonstrated robust efficacy in B cell malignancies, but challenges such as the lack of ideal targetable tumour antigens, tumour-mediated immunosuppression and severe toxicity still hinder their therapeutic efficacy and broad applicability. Synthetic biology can be used to overcome these challenges and create more robust, effective adaptive therapies that enable the specific targeting of cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. In this Progress article, we review recently developed gene circuit therapies for cancer using immune cells, nucleic acids and bacteria as chassis. We conclude by discussing outstanding challenges and future directions for realizing these gene circuit therapies in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Ru Wu
- Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Barbara Jusiak
- Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Timothy K Lu
- Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Biophysics Program, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Lin MW, Tseng YW, Shen CC, Hsu MN, Hwu JR, Chang CW, Yeh CJ, Chou MY, Wu JC, Hu YC. Synthetic switch-based baculovirus for transgene expression control and selective killing of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Nucleic Acids Res 2018; 46:e93. [PMID: 29905834 PMCID: PMC6125686 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gky447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Revised: 05/04/2018] [Accepted: 05/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Baculovirus (BV) holds promise as a vector for anticancer gene delivery to combat the most common liver cancer-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, in vivo BV administration inevitably results in BV entry into non-HCC normal cells, leaky anticancer gene expression and possible toxicity. To improve the safety, we employed synthetic biology to engineer BV for transgene expression regulation. We first uncovered that miR-196a and miR-126 are exclusively expressed in HCC and normal cells, respectively, which allowed us to engineer a sensor based on distinct miRNA expression signature. We next assembled a synthetic switch by coupling the miRNA sensor and RNA binding protein L7Ae for translational repression, and incorporated the entire device into a single BV. The recombinant BV efficiently entered HCC and normal cells and enabled cis-acting transgene expression control, by turning OFF transgene expression in normal cells while switching ON transgene expression in HCC cells. Using pro-apoptotic hBax as the transgene, the switch-based BV selectively killed HCC cells in separate culture and mixed culture of HCC and normal cells. These data demonstrate the potential of synthetic switch-based BV to distinguish HCC and non-HCC normal cells for selective transgene expression control and killing of HCC cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mei-Wei Lin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Wen Tseng
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Che Shen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Mu-Nung Hsu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Jih-Ru Hwu
- Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Frontier Research Center on Fundamental and Applied Sciences of Matters, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Chin-Wei Chang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Chung-Ju Yeh
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Min-Yuan Chou
- Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Jaw-Ching Wu
- Medical Research Department, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei Taiwan
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Chen Hu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Frontier Research Center on Fundamental and Applied Sciences of Matters, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Sedlmayer F, Aubel D, Fussenegger M. Synthetic gene circuits for the detection, elimination and prevention of disease. Nat Biomed Eng 2018; 2:399-415. [PMID: 31011195 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-018-0215-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2017] [Accepted: 03/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
In living organisms, naturally evolved sensors that constantly monitor and process environmental cues trigger corrective actions that enable the organisms to cope with changing conditions. Such natural processes have inspired biologists to construct synthetic living sensors and signalling pathways, by repurposing naturally occurring proteins and by designing molecular building blocks de novo, for customized diagnostics and therapeutics. In particular, designer cells that employ user-defined synthetic gene circuits to survey disease biomarkers and to autonomously re-adjust unbalanced pathological states can coordinate the production of therapeutics, with controlled timing and dosage. Furthermore, tailored genetic networks operating in bacterial or human cells have led to cancer remission in experimental animal models, owing to the network's unprecedented specificity. Other applications of designer cells in infectious, metabolic and autoimmune diseases are also being explored. In this Review, we describe the biomedical applications of synthetic gene circuits in major disease areas, and discuss how the first genetically engineered devices developed on the basis of synthetic-biology principles made the leap from the laboratory to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ferdinand Sedlmayer
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zürich, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dominique Aubel
- IUTA Département Génie Biologique, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Martin Fussenegger
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zürich, Basel, Switzerland. .,Faculty of Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
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