1
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Shomar H, Bokinsky G. Harnessing iron‑sulfur enzymes for synthetic biology. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH 2024; 1871:119718. [PMID: 38574823 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2024.119718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Reactions catalysed by iron-sulfur (Fe-S) enzymes appear in a variety of biosynthetic pathways that produce valuable natural products. Harnessing these biosynthetic pathways by expression in microbial cell factories grown on an industrial scale would yield enormous economic and environmental benefits. However, Fe-S enzymes often become bottlenecks that limits the productivity of engineered pathways. As a consequence, achieving the production metrics required for industrial application remains a distant goal for Fe-S enzyme-dependent pathways. Here, we identify and review three core challenges in harnessing Fe-S enzyme activity, which all stem from the properties of Fe-S clusters: 1) limited Fe-S cluster supply within the host cell, 2) Fe-S cluster instability, and 3) lack of specialized reducing cofactor proteins often required for Fe-S enzyme activity, such as enzyme-specific flavodoxins and ferredoxins. We highlight successful methods developed for a variety of Fe-S enzymes and electron carriers for overcoming these difficulties. We use heterologous nitrogenase expression as a grand case study demonstrating how each of these challenges can be addressed. We predict that recent breakthroughs in protein structure prediction and design will prove well-suited to addressing each of these challenges. A reliable toolkit for harnessing Fe-S enzymes in engineered metabolic pathways will accelerate the development of industry-ready Fe-S enzyme-dependent biosynthesis pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Shomar
- Institut Pasteur, université Paris Cité, Inserm U1284, Diversité moléculaire des microbes (Molecular Diversity of Microbes lab), 75015 Paris, France
| | - Gregory Bokinsky
- Department of Bionanoscience, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.
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2
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Bae J, Kim J, Choi J, Lee H, Koh M. Split Proteins and Reassembly Modules for Biological Applications. Chembiochem 2024; 25:e202400123. [PMID: 38530024 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202400123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Split systems, modular entities enabling controlled biological processes, have become instrumental in biological research. This review highlights their utility across applications like gene regulation, protein interaction identification, and biosensor development. Covering significant progress over the last decade, it revisits traditional split proteins such as GFP, luciferase, and inteins, and explores advancements in technologies like Cas proteins and base editors. We also examine reassembly modules and their applications in diverse fields, from gene regulation to therapeutic innovation. This review offers a comprehensive perspective on the recent evolution of split systems in biological research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jieun Bae
- Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Jonghoon Kim
- Department of Chemistry and Integrative Institute of Basic Science, Soongsil University, Seoul, 06978, Republic of Korea
| | - Jongdoo Choi
- Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Hwiyeong Lee
- Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Minseob Koh
- Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea
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3
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Cai R, Ngwadom C, Saxena R, Soman J, Bruggeman C, Hickey DP, Verduzco R, Ajo-Franklin CM. Creation of a point-of-care therapeutics sensor using protein engineering, electrochemical sensing and electronic integration. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1689. [PMID: 38402222 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45789-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Point-of-care sensors, which are low-cost and user-friendly, play a crucial role in precision medicine by providing quick results for individuals. Here, we transform the conventional glucometer into a 4-hydroxytamoxifen therapeutic biosensor in which 4-hydroxytamoxifen modulates the electrical signal generated by glucose oxidation. To encode the 4-hydroxytamoxifen signal within glucose oxidation, we introduce the ligand-binding domain of estrogen receptor-alpha into pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent glucose dehydrogenase by constructing and screening a comprehensive protein insertion library. In addition to obtaining 4-hydroxytamoxifen regulatable engineered proteins, these results unveil the significance of both secondary and quaternary protein structures in propagation of conformational signals. By constructing an effective bioelectrochemical interface, we detect 4-hydroxytamoxifen in human blood samples as changes in the electrical signal and use this to develop an electrochemical algorithm to decode the 4-hydroxytamoxifen signal from glucose. To meet the miniaturization and signal amplification requirements for point-of-care use, we harness power from glucose oxidation to create a self-powered sensor. We also amplify the 4-hydroxytamoxifen signal using an organic electrochemical transistor, resulting in milliampere-level signals. Our work demonstrates a broad interdisciplinary approach to create a biosensor that capitalizes on recent innovations in protein engineering, electrochemical sensing, and electrical engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong Cai
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
| | | | - Ravindra Saxena
- Applied Physics Graduate Program, Smalley-Curl Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jayashree Soman
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Chase Bruggeman
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - David P Hickey
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Rafael Verduzco
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Caroline M Ajo-Franklin
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
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4
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McGuinness KN, Fehon N, Feehan R, Miller M, Mutter AC, Rybak LA, Nam J, AbuSalim JE, Atkinson JT, Heidari H, Losada N, Kim JD, Koder RL, Lu Y, Silberg JJ, Slusky JSG, Falkowski PG, Nanda V. The energetics and evolution of oxidoreductases in deep time. Proteins 2024; 92:52-59. [PMID: 37596815 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
The core metabolic reactions of life drive electrons through a class of redox protein enzymes, the oxidoreductases. The energetics of electron flow is determined by the redox potentials of organic and inorganic cofactors as tuned by the protein environment. Understanding how protein structure affects oxidation-reduction energetics is crucial for studying metabolism, creating bioelectronic systems, and tracing the history of biological energy utilization on Earth. We constructed ProtReDox (https://protein-redox-potential.web.app), a manually curated database of experimentally determined redox potentials. With over 500 measurements, we can begin to identify how proteins modulate oxidation-reduction energetics across the tree of life. By mapping redox potentials onto networks of oxidoreductase fold evolution, we can infer the evolution of electron transfer energetics over deep time. ProtReDox is designed to include user-contributed submissions with the intention of making it a valuable resource for researchers in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth N McGuinness
- Department of Natural Sciences, Caldwell University, Caldwell, New Jersey, USA
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Nolan Fehon
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Ryan Feehan
- Computational Biology Program, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
| | - Michelle Miller
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Andrew C Mutter
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Laryssa A Rybak
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Justin Nam
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jenna E AbuSalim
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Joshua T Atkinson
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Hirbod Heidari
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Natalie Losada
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - J Dongun Kim
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Ronald L Koder
- Department of Physics, The City College of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Jonathan J Silberg
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Joanna S G Slusky
- Computational Biology Program, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
| | - Paul G Falkowski
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Vikas Nanda
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
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5
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Li S, De Groote Tavares C, Tolar JG, Ajo-Franklin CM. Selective bioelectronic sensing of pharmacologically relevant quinones using extracellular electron transfer in Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. Biosens Bioelectron 2024; 243:115762. [PMID: 37875059 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
Redox-active small molecules containing quinone functional groups play important roles as pharmaceuticals, but can be toxic if overdosed. Despite the need for a fast and quantitative method to detect quinone and its derivatives, current sensing strategies are often slow and struggle to differentiate between structural analogs. Leveraging the discovery that microorganisms use certain quinones to perform extracellular electron transfer (EET), we investigated the use of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum as a whole-cell bioelectronic sensor to selectively sense quinone analogs. By tailoring the native EET pathway in L. plantarum, we enabled quantitative quinone sensing of 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (DHNA) - a gut bifidogenic growth stimulator. We found that L. plantarum could respond to environmental DHNA within seconds, producing concentration-dependent electrical signals. This sensing capacity was robust in different assay media and allowed for continuous monitoring of DHNA concentrations. In a simulated gut environment containing a mixed pool of quinone derivatives, this tailored EET pathway can selectively sense pharmacologically relevant quinone analogs, such as DHNA and menadione, amongst other structurally similar quinone derivatives. We also developed a multivariate model to describe the mechanism behind this selectivity and found a predictable correlation between quinone physiochemical properties and the corresponding electrical signals. Our work presents a new concept to selectively sense quinone using whole-cell bioelectronic sensors and opens the possibility of using probiotic L. plantarum for bioelectronic applications in human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siliang Li
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Joe G Tolar
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Caroline M Ajo-Franklin
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
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6
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Truong A, Myerscough D, Campbell I, Atkinson J, Silberg JJ. A cellular selection identifies elongated flavodoxins that support electron transfer to sulfite reductase. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4746. [PMID: 37551563 PMCID: PMC10503412 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Flavodoxins (Flds) mediate the flux of electrons between oxidoreductases in diverse metabolic pathways. To investigate whether Flds can support electron transfer to a sulfite reductase (SIR) that evolved to couple with a ferredoxin, we evaluated the ability of Flds to transfer electrons from a ferredoxin-NADP reductase (FNR) to a ferredoxin-dependent SIR using growth complementation of an Escherichia coli strain with a sulfur metabolism defect. We show that Flds from cyanobacteria complement this growth defect when coexpressed with an FNR and an SIR that evolved to couple with a plant ferredoxin. When we evaluated the effect of peptide insertion on Fld-mediated electron transfer, we observed a sensitivity to insertions within regions predicted to be proximal to the cofactor and partner binding sites, while a high insertion tolerance was detected within loops distal from the cofactor and within regions of helices and sheets that are proximal to those loops. Bioinformatic analysis showed that natural Fld sequence variability predicts a large fraction of the motifs that tolerate insertion of the octapeptide SGRPGSLS. These results represent the first evidence that Flds can support electron transfer to assimilatory SIRs, and they suggest that the pattern of insertion tolerance is influenced by interactions with oxidoreductase partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Truong
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Program, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Dru Myerscough
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Ian Campbell
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Joshua Atkinson
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Jonathan J Silberg
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
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7
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Zhu J, Wang B, Zhang Y, Wei T, Gao T. Living electrochemical biosensing: Engineered electroactive bacteria for biosensor development and the emerging trends. Biosens Bioelectron 2023; 237:115480. [PMID: 37379794 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
Bioelectrical interfaces made of living electroactive bacteria (EAB) provide a unique opportunity to bridge biotic and abiotic systems, enabling the reprogramming of electrochemical biosensing. To develop these biosensors, principles from synthetic biology and electrode materials are being combined to engineer EAB as dynamic and responsive transducers with emerging, programmable functionalities. This review discusses the bioengineering of EAB to design active sensing parts and electrically connective interfaces on electrodes, which can be applied to construct smart electrochemical biosensors. In detail, by revisiting the electron transfer mechanism of electroactive microorganisms, engineering strategies of EAB cells for biotargets recognition, sensing circuit construction, and electrical signal routing, engineered EAB have demonstrated impressive capabilities in designing active sensing elements and developing electrically conductive interfaces on electrodes. Thus, integration of engineered EAB into electrochemical biosensors presents a promising avenue for advancing bioelectronics research. These hybridized systems equipped with engineered EAB can promote the field of electrochemical biosensing, with applications in environmental monitoring, health monitoring, green manufacturing, and other analytical fields. Finally, this review considers the prospects and challenges of the development of EAB-based electrochemical biosensors, identifying potential future applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Zhu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular and Medical Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, PR China
| | - Baoguo Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular and Medical Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, PR China
| | - Yixin Zhang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular and Medical Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, PR China
| | - Tianxiang Wei
- School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, PR China
| | - Tao Gao
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular and Medical Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, PR China.
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8
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Aspacio D, Zhang Y, Cui Y, King E, Black WB, Perea S, Luu E, Siegel JB, Li H. Shifting Redox Reaction Equilibria on Demand Using an Orthogonal Redox Cofactor. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.29.555398. [PMID: 37693387 PMCID: PMC10491207 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.29.555398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
Natural metabolism relies on chemical compartmentalization of two redox cofactors, NAD+ and NADP+, to orchestrate life-essential redox reaction directions. However, in whole cells the reliance on these canonical cofactors limits flexible control of redox reaction direction as these reactions are permanently tied to catabolism or anabolism. In cell-free systems, NADP+ is too expensive in large scale. We have previously reported the use of nicotinamide mononucleotide, (NMN+) as a low-cost, noncanonical redox cofactor capable of specific electron delivery to diverse chemistries. Here, we present Nox Ortho, an NMNH-specific water-forming oxidase, that completes the toolkit to modulate NMNH/NMN+ ratio. This work uncovers an enzyme design principle that succeeds in parallel engineering of six butanediol dehydrogenases as NMN(H)-orthogonal biocatalysts consistently with a 103 - 106 -fold cofactor specificity switch from NAD(P)+ to NMN+. We combine these to produce chiral-pure 2,3-butanediol (Bdo) isomers without interference from NAD(H) or NADP(H) in vitro and in E. coli cells. We establish that NMN(H) can be held at a distinct redox ratio on demand, decoupled from both NAD(H) and NADP(H) redox ratios in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek Aspacio
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
| | - Yulai Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
| | - Youtian Cui
- Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Edward King
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
| | - William B. Black
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
| | - Sean Perea
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
| | - Emma Luu
- Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Justin B. Siegel
- Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Han Li
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3900, United States
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9
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Atkinson JT, Chavez MS, Niman CM, El-Naggar MY. Living electronics: A catalogue of engineered living electronic components. Microb Biotechnol 2023; 16:507-533. [PMID: 36519191 PMCID: PMC9948233 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Biology leverages a range of electrical phenomena to extract and store energy, control molecular reactions and enable multicellular communication. Microbes, in particular, have evolved genetically encoded machinery enabling them to utilize the abundant redox-active molecules and minerals available on Earth, which in turn drive global-scale biogeochemical cycles. Recently, the microbial machinery enabling these redox reactions have been leveraged for interfacing cells and biomolecules with electrical circuits for biotechnological applications. Synthetic biology is allowing for the use of these machinery as components of engineered living materials with tuneable electrical properties. Herein, we review the state of such living electronic components including wires, capacitors, transistors, diodes, optoelectronic components, spin filters, sensors, logic processors, bioactuators, information storage media and methods for assembling these components into living electronic circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua T Atkinson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Marko S Chavez
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Christina M Niman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Mohamed Y El-Naggar
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.,Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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10
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Schulz V, Basu S, Freibert SA, Webert H, Boss L, Mühlenhoff U, Pierrel F, Essen LO, Warui DM, Booker SJ, Stehling O, Lill R. Functional spectrum and specificity of mitochondrial ferredoxins FDX1 and FDX2. Nat Chem Biol 2023; 19:206-217. [PMID: 36280795 PMCID: PMC10873809 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-01159-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Ferredoxins comprise a large family of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins that shuttle electrons in diverse biological processes. Human mitochondria contain two isoforms of [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins, FDX1 (aka adrenodoxin) and FDX2, with known functions in cytochrome P450-dependent steroid transformations and Fe-S protein biogenesis. Here, we show that only FDX2, but not FDX1, is involved in Fe-S protein maturation. Vice versa, FDX1 is specific not only for steroidogenesis, but also for heme a and lipoyl cofactor biosyntheses. In the latter pathway, FDX1 provides electrons to kickstart the radical chain reaction catalyzed by lipoyl synthase. We also identified lipoylation as a target of the toxic antitumor copper ionophore elesclomol. Finally, the striking target specificity of each ferredoxin was assigned to small conserved sequence motifs. Swapping these motifs changed the target specificity of these electron donors. Together, our findings identify new biochemical tasks of mitochondrial ferredoxins and provide structural insights into their functional specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinzent Schulz
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Somsuvro Basu
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Freelance Medical Communications Consultant, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Sven-A Freibert
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Holger Webert
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Linda Boss
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Mühlenhoff
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Fabien Pierrel
- Univ. of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, UMR 5525, VetAgro Sup, Grenoble INP, TIMC, Grenoble, France
| | - Lars-O Essen
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Douglas M Warui
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Squire J Booker
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Oliver Stehling
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Centre for Synthetic Microbiology, Synmikro, Marburg, Germany.
| | - Roland Lill
- Institute for Cytobiology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Centre for Synthetic Microbiology, Synmikro, Marburg, Germany.
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11
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Schulz V, Freibert SA, Boss L, Mühlenhoff U, Stehling O, Lill R. Mitochondrial [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins: new functions for old dogs. FEBS Lett 2023; 597:102-121. [PMID: 36443530 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.14546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Ferredoxins (FDXs) comprise a large family of iron-sulfur proteins that shuttle electrons from NADPH and FDX reductases into diverse biological processes. This review focuses on the structure, function and specificity of mitochondrial [2Fe-2S] FDXs that are related to bacterial FDXs due to their endosymbiotic inheritance. Their classical function in cytochrome P450-dependent steroid transformations was identified around 1960, and is exemplified by mammalian FDX1 (aka adrenodoxin). Thirty years later the essential function in cellular Fe/S protein biogenesis was discovered for the yeast mitochondrial FDX Yah1 that is additionally crucial for the formation of haem a and ubiquinone CoQ6 . In mammals, Fe/S protein biogenesis is exclusively performed by the FDX1 paralog FDX2, despite the high structural similarity of both proteins. Recently, additional and specific roles of human FDX1 in haem a and lipoyl cofactor biosyntheses were described. For lipoyl synthesis, FDX1 transfers electrons to the radical S-adenosyl methionine-dependent lipoyl synthase to kickstart its radical chain reaction. The high target specificity of the two mammalian FDXs is contained within small conserved sequence motifs, that upon swapping change the target selection of these electron donors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinzent Schulz
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.,Zentrum für Synthetische Mikrobiologie Synmikro, Marburg, Germany
| | - Sven-A Freibert
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.,Zentrum für Synthetische Mikrobiologie Synmikro, Marburg, Germany
| | - Linda Boss
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.,Zentrum für Synthetische Mikrobiologie Synmikro, Marburg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Mühlenhoff
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.,Zentrum für Synthetische Mikrobiologie Synmikro, Marburg, Germany
| | - Oliver Stehling
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.,Zentrum für Synthetische Mikrobiologie Synmikro, Marburg, Germany
| | - Roland Lill
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.,Zentrum für Synthetische Mikrobiologie Synmikro, Marburg, Germany
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12
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Xue C, Ng IS. A direct enzymatic evaluation platform (DEEP) to fine-tuning pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent proteins for cadaverine production. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:272-283. [PMID: 36271696 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (pyridoxal phosphate, PLP) is an essential cofactor for multiple enzymatic reactions in industry. However, cofactor engineering based on PLP regeneration and related to the performance of enzymes in chemical production has rarely been discussed. First, we found that MG1655 strain was sensitive to nitrogen source and relied on different amino acids, thus the biomass was significantly reduced when PLP excess in the medium. Then, the six KEIO collection strains were applied to find out the prominent gene in deoxyxylulose-5-phosphate (DXP) pathway, where pdxB was superior in controlling cell growth. Therefore, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference (CRISPRi) targeted on pdxB in MG1655 was employed to establish a novel direct enzymatic evaluation platform (DEEP) as a high-throughput tool and obtained the optimal modules for incorporating of PLP to enhance the biomass and activity of PLP-dependent enzymes simultaneously. As a result, the biomass has increased by 55% using PlacI promoter driven pyridoxine 5'-phosphate oxidase (PdxH) with a trace amount of precursor. When the strains incorporated DEEP and lysine decarboxylase (CadA), the cadaverine productivity was increased 32% due to the higher expression of CadA. DEEP is not only feasible for high-throughput screening of the best chassis for PLP engineering but also practical in fine-tuning the quantity and quality of enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengfeng Xue
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - I-Son Ng
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
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13
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Atkinson JT, Su L, Zhang X, Bennett GN, Silberg JJ, Ajo-Franklin CM. Real-time bioelectronic sensing of environmental contaminants. Nature 2022; 611:548-553. [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05356-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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14
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Meng X, Liu L, Chen X. Bacterial photosynthesis: state-of-the-art in light-driven carbon fixation in engineered bacteria. Curr Opin Microbiol 2022; 69:102174. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2022.102174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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15
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Campbell IJ, Atkinson JT, Carpenter MD, Myerscough D, Su L, Ajo-Franklin CM, Silberg JJ. Determinants of Multiheme Cytochrome Extracellular Electron Transfer Uncovered by Systematic Peptide Insertion. Biochemistry 2022; 61:1337-1350. [PMID: 35687533 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The multiheme cytochrome MtrA enables microbial respiration by transferring electrons across the outer membrane to extracellular electron acceptors. While structural studies have identified residues that mediate the binding of MtrA to hemes and to other cytochromes that facilitate extracellular electron transfer (EET), the relative importance of these interactions for EET is not known. To better understand EET, we evaluated how insertion of an octapeptide across all MtrA backbone locations affects Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 respiration on Fe(III). The EET efficiency was found to be inversely correlated with the proximity of the insertion to the heme prosthetic groups. Mutants with decreased EET efficiencies also arose from insertions in a subset of the regions that make residue-residue contacts with the porin MtrB, while all sites contacting the extracellular cytochrome MtrC presented high peptide insertion tolerance. MtrA variants having peptide insertions within the CXXCH motifs that coordinate heme cofactors retained some ability to support respiration on Fe(III), although these variants presented significantly decreased EET efficiencies. Furthermore, the fitness of cells expressing different MtrA variants under Fe(III) respiration conditions correlated with anode reduction. The peptide insertion profile, which represents the first comprehensive sequence-structure-function map for a multiheme cytochrome, implicates MtrA as a strategic protein engineering target for the regulation of EET.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian J Campbell
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Joshua T Atkinson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Matthew D Carpenter
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Dru Myerscough
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Lin Su
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom
| | - Caroline M Ajo-Franklin
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.,Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-142, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Jonathan J Silberg
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-362, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.,Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-142, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
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16
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Graham AJ, Gibbs SL, Saez Cabezas CA, Wang Y, Green AM, Milliron DJ, Keitz BK. In Situ
Optical Quantification of Extracellular Electron Transfer Using Plasmonic Metal Oxide Nanocrystals**. ChemElectroChem 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/celc.202101423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Austin J. Graham
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
- Center for the Dynamics and Control of Materials University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
| | - Stephen L. Gibbs
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
| | - Camila A. Saez Cabezas
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
- Center for the Dynamics and Control of Materials University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
| | - Yongdan Wang
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
| | - Allison M. Green
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
- Center for the Dynamics and Control of Materials University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
| | - Delia J. Milliron
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
- Center for the Dynamics and Control of Materials University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
| | - Benjamin K. Keitz
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
- Center for the Dynamics and Control of Materials University of Texas at Austin TX, 78712 Austin United States
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17
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Qi Y, Yang X, Jia S, Shen B, Zhao J, Wan Y, Zhong H. A Soft Evaporation and Ionization Technique for Mass Spectrometric Analysis and Bio-Imaging of Metal Ions in Plants Based on Metal-Iodide Cluster Ionization. Anal Chem 2021; 93:15597-15606. [PMID: 34762390 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c01872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Protonation/deprotonation is the well-recognized mass spectrometric mechanism in matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization of organic molecules but not for metal ions with different oxidation states. We describe herein a soft evaporation and ionization technique for metal ions based on iodination/de-iodination in metal-iodide cluster ionization (MICI). It is not only able to determine identities and oxidation states of metal ions but also reveal spatial distributions and isotope ratios in response to physiological or environmental changes. A long chain alcohol 1-tetradecanol with no functional groups that can absorb laser irradiation was used to cover and prevent samples from direct laser ablation. Upon the irradiation of the third harmonic Nd3+:YAG (355 nm, 3 ns), iohexol containing three covalently bonded iodine atoms instantly generates negative iodide ions that can quantitatively form clusters with at least 14 essential metal ions present in plants. The detection limits vary with different metal ions down to low fmol. MICI eliminates the atomization process that obscures metal charges in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Because only metal ions can be iodinated with iohexol, interferences from the abundant organic molecules of plants that are confronted by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) are also greatly decreased.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinghua Qi
- Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, P. R. China
| | - Xiaojie Yang
- Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, P. R. China
| | - Shanshan Jia
- Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, P. R. China
| | - Baojie Shen
- Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, P. R. China
| | - Jiaxing Zhao
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi 530004, P. R. China
| | - Yuchen Wan
- Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, P. R. China
| | - Hongying Zhong
- Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, P. R. China.,State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi 530004, P. R. China
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18
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Shomar H, Bokinsky G. Towards a Synthetic Biology Toolset for Metallocluster Enzymes in Biosynthetic Pathways: What We Know and What We Need. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26226930. [PMID: 34834021 PMCID: PMC8617995 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26226930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbes are routinely engineered to synthesize high-value chemicals from renewable materials through synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. Microbial biosynthesis often relies on expression of heterologous biosynthetic pathways, i.e., enzymes transplanted from foreign organisms. Metallocluster enzymes are one of the most ubiquitous family of enzymes involved in natural product biosynthesis and are of great biotechnological importance. However, the functional expression of recombinant metallocluster enzymes in live cells is often challenging and represents a major bottleneck. The activity of metallocluster enzymes requires essential supporting pathways, involved in protein maturation, electron supply, and/or enzyme stability. Proper function of these supporting pathways involves specific protein-protein interactions that remain poorly characterized and are often overlooked by traditional synthetic biology approaches. Consequently, engineering approaches that focus on enzymatic expression and carbon flux alone often overlook the particular needs of metallocluster enzymes. This review highlights the biotechnological relevance of metallocluster enzymes and discusses novel synthetic biology strategies to advance their industrial application, with a particular focus on iron-sulfur cluster enzymes. Strategies to enable functional heterologous expression and enhance recombinant metallocluster enzyme activity in industrial hosts include: (1) optimizing specific maturation pathways; (2) improving catalytic stability; and (3) enhancing electron transfer. In addition, we suggest future directions for developing microbial cell factories that rely on metallocluster enzyme catalysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Shomar
- INSERM U722, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Paris, Site Xavier Bichat, 75018 Paris, France
- Correspondence: (H.S.); (G.B.)
| | - Gregory Bokinsky
- Department of Bionanoscience, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands
- Correspondence: (H.S.); (G.B.)
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19
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Glionna C, Kumar V, Le Saux G, Pramanik B, Wagner N, Cohen-Luria R, Ashkenasy G, Ashkenasy N. Dynamic Surface Layer Coiled Coil Proteins Processing Analog-to-Digital Information. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:17441-17451. [PMID: 34652148 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c06356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Surface layer proteins perform multiple functions in prokaryotic cells, including cellular defense, cell-shape maintenance, and regulation of import and export of materials. However, mimicking the complex and dynamic behavior of such two-dimensional biochemical systems is challenging, and hence research has so far focused mainly on the design and manipulation of the structure and functionality of protein assemblies in solution. Motivated by the new opportunities that dynamic surface layer proteins may offer for modern technology, we herein demonstrate that immobilization of coiled coil proteins onto an inorganic surface facilitates complex behavior, manifested by reversible chemical reactions that can be rapidly monitored as digital surface readouts. Using multiple chemical triggers as inputs and several surface characteristics as outputs, we can realize reversible switching and logic gate operations that are read in parallel. Moreover, using the same coiled coil protein monolayers for derivatization of nanopores drilled into silicon nitride membranes facilitates control over ion and mass transport through the pores, thereby expanding the applicability of the dynamic coiled coil system for contemporary stochastic biosensing applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Glionna
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Vinod Kumar
- Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Guillaume Le Saux
- Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Bapan Pramanik
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Nathaniel Wagner
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Rivka Cohen-Luria
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Gonen Ashkenasy
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.,Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Nurit Ashkenasy
- Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.,Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
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20
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Gilep A, Kuzikov A, Sushko T, Grabovec I, Masamrekh R, Sigolaeva LV, Pergushov DV, Schacher FH, Strushkevich N, Shumyantseva VV. Electrochemical characterization of mutant forms of rubredoxin B from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS 2021; 1870:140734. [PMID: 34662730 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2021.140734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Electron transfer in metalloproteins is a driving force for many biological processes and widely distributed in nature. Rubredoxin B (RubB) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a first example among [1Fe-0S] proteins that support catalytic activity of terminal sterol-monooxygenases enabling its application in metabolic engineering. To explore the tolerance of RubB to the specific amino acid changes we evaluated the effect of surface mutations on its electrochemical properties. Based on the RubB fold we also designed the mutant with a putative additional site for protein-protein interactions to further evaluate electron transfer and electrochemical properties. The investigation of redox properties of mutant variants of RubB was done using screen-printed graphite electrodes (SPEs) modified with stable dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The redox potentials (midpoint potentials, E0Ꞌ) of mutants did not significantly differ from the wild type protein and vary in the range of -264 to -231 mV vs. Ag/AgCl electrode. However, all mutations affect electron transfer rate between the protein and electrode. Notably, the modulation of the protein-protein interactions was observed for the insertion mutant suggesting the possibility of tailoring of rubredoxin for the selected redox-partner. Overall, RubB is tolerant to the significant modifications in its structure enabling rational engineering of novel redox proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrei Gilep
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus; Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexey Kuzikov
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia; Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Irina Grabovec
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Rami Masamrekh
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia; Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Larisa V Sigolaeva
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitry V Pergushov
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Felix H Schacher
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry (IOMC), Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany; Jena Center for Soft Matter (JCSM), Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany; Center for Energy and Environmental Chemistry (CEEC), Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany
| | | | - Victoria V Shumyantseva
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia; Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
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21
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Terrell JL, Tschirhart T, Jahnke JP, Stephens K, Liu Y, Dong H, Hurley MM, Pozo M, McKay R, Tsao CY, Wu HC, Vora G, Payne GF, Stratis-Cullum DN, Bentley WE. Bioelectronic control of a microbial community using surface-assembled electrogenetic cells to route signals. NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY 2021; 16:688-697. [PMID: 33782589 DOI: 10.1038/s41565-021-00878-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
We developed a bioelectronic communication system that is enabled by a redox signal transduction modality to exchange information between a living cell-embedded bioelectronics interface and an engineered microbial network. A naturally communicating three-member microbial network is 'plugged into' an external electronic system that interrogates and controls biological function in real time. First, electrode-generated redox molecules are programmed to activate gene expression in an engineered population of electrode-attached bacterial cells, effectively creating a living transducer electrode. These cells interpret and translate electronic signals and then transmit this information biologically by producing quorum sensing molecules that are, in turn, interpreted by a planktonic coculture. The propagated molecular communication drives expression and secretion of a therapeutic peptide from one strain and simultaneously enables direct electronic feedback from the second strain, thus enabling real-time electronic verification of biological signal propagation. Overall, we show how this multifunctional bioelectronic platform, termed a BioLAN, reliably facilitates on-demand bioelectronic communication and concurrently performs programmed tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L Terrell
- U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM)-Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, USA
| | - Tanya Tschirhart
- Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Justin P Jahnke
- U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM)-Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, USA
| | - Kristina Stephens
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Yi Liu
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Hong Dong
- U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM)-Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, USA
| | - Margaret M Hurley
- U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM)-Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, MD, USA
| | - Maria Pozo
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Ryan McKay
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Chen Yu Tsao
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Hsuan-Chen Wu
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Gary Vora
- Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Gregory F Payne
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Dimitra N Stratis-Cullum
- U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM)-Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, USA
| | - William E Bentley
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
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22
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Campbell IJ, Kahanda D, Atkinson JT, Sparks ON, Kim J, Tseng CP, Verduzco R, Bennett GN, Silberg JJ. Recombination of 2Fe-2S Ferredoxins Reveals Differences in the Inheritance of Thermostability and Midpoint Potential. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:3245-3253. [PMID: 33226772 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Recombination can be used in the laboratory to overcome component limitations in synthetic biology by creating enzymes that exhibit distinct activities and stabilities from native proteins. To investigate how recombination affects the properties of an oxidoreductase that transfers electrons in cells, we created ferredoxin (Fd) chimeras by recombining distantly related cyanobacterial and cyanomyophage Fds (53% identity) that present similar midpoint potentials but distinct thermostabilities. Fd chimeras having a wide range of amino acid substitutions retained the ability to coordinate an iron-sulfur cluster, although their thermostabilities varied with the fraction of residues inherited from each parent. The midpoint potentials of chimeric Fds also varied. However, all of the synthetic Fds exhibited midpoint potentials outside of the parental protein range. Each of the chimeric Fds could also support electron transfer between Fd-NADP reductase and sulfite reductase in Escherichia coli, although the chimeric Fds varied in the expression required for similar levels of cellular electron transfer. These results show how Fds can be diversified through recombination and reveal differences in the inheritance of thermostability and electrochemical properties. Furthermore, they illustrate how electron transfer efficiencies of chimeric Fds can be rapidly evaluated using a synthetic metabolic pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian J. Campbell
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Dimithree Kahanda
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Joshua T. Atkinson
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Othneil Noble Sparks
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Jinyoung Kim
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Chia-Ping Tseng
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-362, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Rafael Verduzco
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-362, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - George N. Bennett
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-362, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Jonathan J. Silberg
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-362, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-142, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
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23
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Jagilinki BP, Ilic S, Trncik C, Tyryshkin AM, Pike DH, Lubitz W, Bill E, Einsle O, Birrell JA, Akabayov B, Noy D, Nanda V. In Vivo Biogenesis of a De Novo Designed Iron-Sulfur Protein. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:3400-3407. [PMID: 33186033 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In vivo expression of metalloproteins requires specific metal trafficking and incorporation machinery inside the cell. Synthetic designed metalloproteins are typically purified without the target metal, which is subsequently introduced through in vitro reconstitution. The extra step complicates protein optimization by high-throughput library screening or laboratory evolution. We demonstrate that a designed coiled-coil iron-sulfur protein (CCIS) assembles robustly with [4Fe-4S] clusters in vivo. While in vitro reconstitution produces a mixture of oligomers that depends on solution conditions, in vivo production generates a stable homotrimer coordinating a single, diamagnetic [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster. The multinuclear cluster of in vivo assembled CCIS is more resistant to degradation by molecular oxygen. Only one of the two metal coordinating half-sites is required in vivo, indicating specificity of molecular recognition in recruitment of the metal cluster. CCIS, unbiased by evolution, is a unique platform to examine iron-sulfur protein biogenesis and develop synthetic multinuclear oxidoreductases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhanu P. Jagilinki
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 United States
- Migal-Galilee Research Institute, Kiryat Shmona, 11016, Israel
| | - Stefan Ilic
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel
| | - Cristian Trncik
- Institute for Biochemistry, Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, Freiburg, 79085, Germany
| | - Alexei M. Tyryshkin
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 United States
| | - Douglas H. Pike
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 United States
| | - Wolfgang Lubitz
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Stiftstraße 34-36, Mülheim an der Ruhr, 45470, Germany
| | - Eckhard Bill
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Stiftstraße 34-36, Mülheim an der Ruhr, 45470, Germany
| | - Oliver Einsle
- Institute for Biochemistry, Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, Freiburg, 79085, Germany
| | - James A. Birrell
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Stiftstraße 34-36, Mülheim an der Ruhr, 45470, Germany
| | - Barak Akabayov
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel
| | - Dror Noy
- Migal-Galilee Research Institute, Kiryat Shmona, 11016, Israel
| | - Vikas Nanda
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 United States
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24
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Fulk EM, Huh D, Atkinson JT, Lie M, Masiello CA, Silberg JJ. A Split Methyl Halide Transferase AND Gate That Reports by Synthesizing an Indicator Gas. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:3104-3113. [PMID: 33104325 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring microbial reactions in highly opaque or autofluorescent environments like soils, seawater, and wastewater remains challenging. To develop a simple approach for observing post-translational reactions within microbes situated in environmental matrices, we designed a methyl halide transferase (MHT) fragment complementation assay that reports by synthesizing an indicator gas. We show that backbone fission within regions of high sequence variability in the Rossmann domain yields split MHT (sMHT) AND gates whose fragments cooperatively associate to synthesize CH3Br. Additionally, we identify a sMHT whose fragments require fusion to pairs of interacting partner proteins for maximal activity. We also show that sMHT fragments fused to FKBP12 and the FKBP-rapamycin binding domain of mTOR display significantly enhanced CH3Br production in the presence of rapamycin. This gas production is reversed in the presence of the competitive inhibitor of FKBP12/FKPB dimerization, indicating that sMHT is a reversible reporter of post-translational reactions. This sMHT represents the first genetic AND gate that reports on protein-protein interactions via an indicator gas. Because indicator gases can be measured in the headspaces of complex environmental samples, this assay should be useful for monitoring the dynamics of diverse molecular interactions within microbes situated in hard-to-image marine and terrestrial matrices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily M. Fulk
- Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology Graduate Program, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-180, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Dongkuk Huh
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Joshua T. Atkinson
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Margaret Lie
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Caroline A. Masiello
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University, MS 126, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-60, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Jonathan J. Silberg
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-140, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-142, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-362, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
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25
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Tseng CP, Silberg JJ, Bennett GN, Verduzco R. 100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Soft Materials for Microbial Bioelectronics. ACS Macro Lett 2020; 9:1590-1603. [PMID: 35617074 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Bioelectronics brings together the fields of biology and microelectronics to create multifunctional devices with the potential to address longstanding technological challenges and change our way of life. Microbial electrochemical devices are a growing subset of bioelectronic devices that incorporate naturally occurring or synthetically engineered microbes into electronic devices and have broad applications including energy harvesting, chemical production, water remediation, and environmental and health monitoring. The goal of this Viewpoint is to highlight recent advances and ongoing challenges in the rapidly developing field of microbial bioelectronic devices, with an emphasis on materials challenges. We provide an overview of microbial bioelectronic devices, discuss the biotic-abiotic interface in these devices, and then present recent advances and ongoing challenges in materials related to electron transfer across the abiotic-biotic interface, microbial adhesion, redox signaling, electronic amplification, and device miniaturization. We conclude with a summary and perspective of the field of microbial bioelectronics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-Ping Tseng
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Jonathan J. Silberg
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - George N. Bennett
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Rafael Verduzco
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
- Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
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26
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Dundas CM, Walker DJ, Keitz BK. Tuning Extracellular Electron Transfer by Shewanella oneidensis Using Transcriptional Logic Gates. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:2301-2315. [PMID: 32786362 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Extracellular electron transfer (EET) pathways, such as those in the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis, interface cellular metabolism with a variety of redox-driven applications. However, designer control over EET flux in S. oneidensis has proven challenging because a functional understanding of its EET pathway proteins and their effect on engineering parametrizations (e.g., response curves, dynamic range) is generally lacking. To address this, we systematically altered transcription and translation of single genes encoding parts of the primary EET pathway of S. oneidensis, CymA/MtrCAB, and examined how expression differences affected model-fitted parameters for Fe(III) reduction kinetics. Using a suite of plasmid-based inducible circuits maintained by appropriate S. oneidensis knockout strains, we pinpointed construct/strain pairings that expressed cymA, mtrA, and mtrC with maximal dynamic range of Fe(III) reduction rate. These optimized EET gene constructs were employed to create Buffer and NOT gate architectures that predictably turn on and turn off EET flux, respectively, in response to isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). Furthermore, we found that response functions generated by these logic gates (i.e., EET activity vs inducer concentration) were comparable to those generated by conventional synthetic biology circuits, where fluorescent reporters are the output. Our results provide insight on programming EET activity with transcriptional logic gates and suggest that previously developed transcriptional circuitry can be adapted to predictably control EET flux.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher M. Dundas
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - David J.F. Walker
- Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Benjamin K. Keitz
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
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27
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VanArsdale E, Pitzer J, Payne GF, Bentley WE. Redox Electrochemistry to Interrogate and Control Biomolecular Communication. iScience 2020; 23:101545. [PMID: 33083771 PMCID: PMC7516135 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Cells often communicate by the secretion, transport, and perception of molecules. Information conveyed by molecules is encoded, transmitted, and decoded by cells within the context of the prevailing microenvironments. Conversely, in electronics, transmission reliability and message validation are predictable, robust, and less context dependent. In turn, many transformative advances have resulted by the formal consideration of information transfer. One way to explore this potential for biological systems is to create bio-device interfaces that facilitate bidirectional information transfer between biology and electronics. Redox reactions enable this linkage because reduction and oxidation mediate communication within biology and can be coupled with electronics. By manipulating redox reactions, one is able to combine the programmable features of electronics with the ability to interrogate and modulate biological function. In this review, we examine methods to electrochemically interrogate the various components of molecular communication using redox chemistry and to electronically control cell communication using redox electrogenetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric VanArsdale
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, 3102 A. James Clark Hall 8278 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA.,Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, 5115 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA.,Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, Room 5102, A. James Clark Hall, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Juliana Pitzer
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, 3102 A. James Clark Hall 8278 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Gregory F Payne
- Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, 5115 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA.,Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, Room 5102, A. James Clark Hall, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - William E Bentley
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, 3102 A. James Clark Hall 8278 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA.,Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, 5115 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA.,Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, Room 5102, A. James Clark Hall, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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28
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Tan SI, Yu PJ, Ng IS. CRISPRi-mediated programming essential gene can as a Direct Enzymatic Performance Evaluation & Determination (DEPEND) system. Biotechnol Bioeng 2020; 117:2842-2851. [PMID: 32458463 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Harnessing enzyme expression for production of target chemicals is a critical and multifarious process, where screening of different genes by inspection of enzymatic activity plays an imperative role. Here, we conceived an idea to improve the time-consuming and labor-intensive process of enzyme screening. Controlling cell growth was achieved by the Cluster Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPRi) system with different single guide RNA targeting the essential gene can (CRISPRi::CA) that encodes a carbonic anhydrase for CO2 uptake. CRISPRi::CA comprises a whole-cell biosensor to monitor CO2 concentration, ranging from 1% to 5%. On the basis of CRISPRi::CA, an effective and simple Direct Enzymatic Performance Evaluation & Determination (DEPEND) system was developed by a single step of plasmid transformation for targeted enzymes. As a result, the activity of different carbonic anhydrases corresponded to the colony-forming units. Furthermore, the enzymatic performance of 5-aminolevulinic acid synthetase (ALAS), which converts glycine and succinate-CoA to release a molecule of CO2 , has also been distinguished, and the effect of the chaperone GroELS on ALAS enzyme folding was successfully identified in the DEPEND system. We provide a highly feasible, time-saving, and flexible technology for the screening and inspection of high-performance enzymes, which may accelerate protein engineering in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shih-I Tan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Peng-Jui Yu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - I-Son Ng
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
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29
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Campbell IJ, Olmos JL, Xu W, Kahanda D, Atkinson JT, Sparks ON, Miller MD, Phillips GN, Bennett GN, Silberg JJ. Prochlorococcus phage ferredoxin: structural characterization and electron transfer to cyanobacterial sulfite reductases. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:10610-10623. [PMID: 32434930 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra120.013501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 05/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Marine cyanobacteria are infected by phages whose genomes encode ferredoxin (Fd) electron carriers. These Fds are thought to redirect the energy harvested from light to phage-encoded oxidoreductases that enhance viral fitness, but it is unclear how the biophysical properties and partner specificities of phage Fds relate to those of photosynthetic organisms. Here, results of a bioinformatics analysis using a sequence similarity network revealed that phage Fds are most closely related to cyanobacterial Fds that transfer electrons from photosystems to oxidoreductases involved in nutrient assimilation. Structural analysis of myovirus P-SSM2 Fd (pssm2-Fd), which infects the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus, revealed high levels of similarity to cyanobacterial Fds (root mean square deviations of ≤0.5 Å). Additionally, pssm2-Fd exhibited a low midpoint reduction potential (-336 mV versus a standard hydrogen electrode), similar to other photosynthetic Fds, although it had lower thermostability (Tm = 28 °C) than did many other Fds. When expressed in an Escherichia coli strain deficient in sulfite assimilation, pssm2-Fd complemented bacterial growth when coexpressed with a P. marinus sulfite reductase, revealing that pssm2-Fd can transfer electrons to a host protein involved in nutrient assimilation. The high levels of structural similarity with cyanobacterial Fds and reactivity with a host sulfite reductase suggest that phage Fds evolved to transfer electrons to cyanobacterially encoded oxidoreductases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian J Campbell
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Program, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.,Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Jose Luis Olmos
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Program, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.,Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Weijun Xu
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - George N Phillips
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.,Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - George N Bennett
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Jonathan J Silberg
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA .,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
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30
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Su L, Fukushima T, Prior A, Baruch M, Zajdel TJ, Ajo-Franklin CM. Modifying Cytochrome c Maturation Can Increase the Bioelectronic Performance of Engineered Escherichia coli. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:115-124. [PMID: 31880923 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Genetic circuits that encode extracellular electron transfer (EET) pathways allow the intracellular state of Escherichia coli to be electronically monitored and controlled. However, relatively low electron flux flows through these pathways, limiting the degree of control by these circuits. Since the EET pathway is composed of multiple multiheme cytochromes c (cyts c) from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, we hypothesized that lower expression levels of cyt c may explain this low EET flux and may be caused by the differences in the cyt c maturation (ccm) machinery between these two species. Here, we constructed random mutations within ccmH by error-prone PCR and screened for increased cyt c production. We identified two ccmH mutants, ccmH-132 and ccmH-195, that exhibited increased heterologous cyt c expression, but had different effects on EET. The ccmH-132 strain reduced WO3 nanoparticles faster than the parental control, whereas the ccmH-195 strain reduced more slowly. The same trend is reflected in electrical current generation: ccmH-132, which has only a single mutation from WT, drastically increased current production by 77%. The percentage of different cyt c proteins in these two mutants suggests that the stoichiometry of the S. oneidensis cyts c is a key determinant of current production by Mtr-expressing E. coli. Thus, we conclude that modulating cyt c maturation effectively improves genetic circuits governing EET in engineered biological systems, enabling better bioelectronic control of E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Su
- State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210018, China
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Tatsuya Fukushima
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Andrew Prior
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Moshe Baruch
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Tom J. Zajdel
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Caroline M. Ajo-Franklin
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Synthetic Biology Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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31
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Wu B, Atkinson JT, Kahanda D, Bennett GN, Silberg JJ. Combinatorial design of chemical‐dependent protein switches for controlling intracellular electron transfer. AIChE J 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.16796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Bingyan Wu
- Biochemistry & Cell Biology Graduate Program Rice University Houston Texas
- Department of Biosciences Rice University Houston Texas
| | - Joshua T. Atkinson
- Department of Biosciences Rice University Houston Texas
- Systems, Synthetic, & Physical Biology Graduate Program Rice University Houston Texas
| | | | - George N. Bennett
- Department of Biosciences Rice University Houston Texas
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Rice University Houston Texas
| | - Jonathan J. Silberg
- Department of Biosciences Rice University Houston Texas
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Rice University Houston Texas
- Department of Bioengineering Rice University Houston Texas
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32
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De novo design of symmetric ferredoxins that shuttle electrons in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:14557-14562. [PMID: 31262814 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1905643116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A symmetric origin for bacterial ferredoxins was first proposed over 50 y ago, yet, to date, no functional symmetric molecule has been constructed. It is hypothesized that extant proteins have drifted from their symmetric roots via gene duplication followed by mutations. Phylogenetic analyses of extant ferredoxins support the independent evolution of N- and C-terminal sequences, thereby allowing consensus-based design of symmetric 4Fe-4S molecules. All designs bind two [4Fe-4S] clusters and exhibit strongly reducing midpoint potentials ranging from -405 to -515 mV. One of these constructs efficiently shuttles electrons through a designed metabolic pathway in Escherichia coli These finding establish that ferredoxins consisting of a symmetric core can be used as a platform to design novel electron transfer carriers for in vivo applications. Outer-shell asymmetry increases sequence space without compromising electron transfer functionality.
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33
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Glaven SM. Bioelectrochemical systems and synthetic biology: more power, more products. Microb Biotechnol 2019; 12:819-823. [PMID: 31264368 PMCID: PMC6680619 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Glaven
- Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
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34
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TerAvest M. Fast bioelectrical switches. Nat Chem Biol 2019; 15:99-100. [DOI: 10.1038/s41589-018-0212-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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35
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Atkinson JT, Wu B, Segatori L, Silberg JJ. Overcoming component limitations in synthetic biology through transposon-mediated protein engineering. Methods Enzymol 2019; 621:191-212. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2019.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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36
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Campbell IJ, Bennett GN, Silberg JJ. Evolutionary Relationships Between Low Potential Ferredoxin and Flavodoxin Electron Carriers. FRONTIERS IN ENERGY RESEARCH 2019; 7:10.3389/fenrg.2019.00079. [PMID: 32095484 PMCID: PMC7039249 DOI: 10.3389/fenrg.2019.00079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Proteins from the ferredoxin (Fd) and flavodoxin (Fld) families function as low potential electrical transfer hubs in cells, at times mediating electron transfer between overlapping sets of oxidoreductases. To better understand protein electron carrier (PEC) use across the domains of life, we evaluated the distribution of genes encoding [4Fe-4S] Fd, [2Fe-2S] Fd, and Fld electron carriers in over 7,000 organisms. Our analysis targeted genes encoding small PEC genes encoding proteins having ≤200 residues. We find that the average number of small PEC genes per Archaea (~13), Bacteria (~8), and Eukarya (~3) genome varies, with some organisms containing as many as 54 total PEC genes. Organisms fall into three groups, including those lacking genes encoding low potential PECs (3%), specialists with a single PEC gene type (20%), and generalists that utilize multiple PEC types (77%). Mapping PEC gene usage onto an evolutionary tree highlights the prevalence of [4Fe-4S] Fds in ancient organisms that are deeply rooted, the expansion of [2Fe-2S] Fds with the advent of photosynthesis and a concomitant decrease in [4Fe-4S] Fds, and the expansion of Flds in organisms that inhabit low-iron host environments. Surprisingly, [4Fe-4S] Fds present a similar abundance in aerobes as [2Fe-2S] Fds. This bioinformatic study highlights understudied PECs whose structure, stability, and partner specificity should be further characterized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian J. Campbell
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Program, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
| | - George N. Bennett
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jonathan J. Silberg
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University Houston, TX, United States
- Correspondence: Jonathan J. Silberg
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