PCR amplification of DNA containing non-standard base pairs by variants of reverse transcriptase from Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1

Therapeutic Applications of Aptamers

Affinity reagents, or target-binding molecules, are quite versatile and are major workhorses in molecular biology and medicine. Antibodies are the most famous and frequently used type and they have been used for a wide range of applications, including laboratory techniques, diagnostics, and therapeutics. However, antibodies are not the only available affinity reagents and they do have significant drawbacks, including laborious and costly production. Aptamers are one potential alternative that have a variety of unique advantages. They are single stranded DNA or RNA molecules that can be selected for binding to many targets including proteins, carbohydrates, and small molecules-for which antibodies typically have low affinity. There are also a variety of cost-effective methods for producing and modifying nucleic acids in vitro without cells, whereas antibodies typically require cells or even whole animals. While there are also significant drawbacks to using aptamers in therapeutic applications, including low in vivo stability, aptamers have had success in clinical trials for treating a variety of diseases and two aptamer-based drugs have gained FDA approval. Aptamer development is still ongoing, which could lead to additional applications of aptamer therapeutics, including antitoxins, and combinatorial approaches with nanoparticles and other nucleic acid therapeutics that could improve efficacy.

Orchestration and theranostic applications of synthetic genome with Hachimoji bases/building blocks

Synthetic genomics is a novel field of chemical biology where the chemically modified genetic alphabets have been considered in central dogma of life. Tweaking of chemical compositions of natural nucleotide bases could be developed as novel building blocks of DNA/RNA. The modified bases (dP, dZ, dS, and dB etc.) have been demonstrated to be adaptable for replication, transcription and follow Darwinism law of evolution. With advancement of chemical biology especially nucleotide chemistry, synthetic genetic codes have been discovered and Hachimoji nucleotides are the most important and significant one among them. These additional nucleotide bases can form orthogonal base-pairing, and also follow Darwinian evolution and other structural features. In the Hachimoji base pairing, synthetic building blocks are formed using eight modified nucleotide (DNA/RNA) letters (hence the name "Hachimoji"). Their structural conformations, like polyelectrolyte backbones and stereo-regular building blocks favor thermodynamic stability and confirm Schrodinger aperiodic crystal. From the structural genomics aspect, these synthetic bases could be incorporated into the central dogma of life. Researchers have shown Hachimoji building blocks were transcribed to its RNA counterpart as a functional fluorescent Hachimoji aptamer. Apart from several unnatural nucleotide base pairs maneuvered into its in vitro and in vivo applications, this review describes future perspective towards the development and therapeutic utilization of the genetic codes, a primary objective of synthetic and chemical biology.

A unified Watson-Crick geometry drives transcription of six-letter expanded DNA alphabets by E. coli RNA polymerase

Artificially Expanded Genetic Information Systems (AEGIS) add independently replicable unnatural nucleotide pairs to the natural G:C and A:T/U pairs found in native DNA, joining the unnatural pairs through alternative modes of hydrogen bonding. Whether and how AEGIS pairs are recognized and processed by multi-subunit cellular RNA polymerases (RNAPs) remains unknown. Here, we show that E. coli RNAP selectively recognizes unnatural nucleobases in a six-letter expanded genetic system. High-resolution cryo-EM structures of three RNAP elongation complexes containing template-substrate UBPs reveal the shared principles behind the recognition of AEGIS and natural base pairs. In these structures, RNAPs are captured in an active state, poised to perform the chemistry step. At this point, the unnatural base pair adopts a Watson-Crick geometry, and the trigger loop is folded into an active conformation, indicating that the mechanistic principles underlying recognition and incorporation of natural base pairs also apply to AEGIS unnatural base pairs. These data validate the design philosophy of AEGIS unnatural basepairs. Further, we provide structural evidence supporting a long-standing hypothesis that pair mismatch during transcription occurs via tautomerization. Together, our work highlights the importance of Watson-Crick complementarity underlying the design principles of AEGIS base pair recognition.

Embeddability of centrosymmetric matrices capturing the double-helix structure in natural and synthetic DNA

In this paper, we discuss the embedding problem for centrosymmetric matrices, which are higher order generalizations of the matrices occurring in strand symmetric models. These models capture the substitution symmetries arising from the double helix structure of the DNA. Deciding whether a transition matrix is embeddable or not enables us to know if the observed substitution probabilities are consistent with a homogeneous continuous time substitution model, such as the Kimura models, the Jukes-Cantor model or the general time-reversible model. On the other hand, the generalization to higher order matrices is motivated by the setting of synthetic biology, which works with different sizes of genetic alphabets.

Expanding the chemical repertoire of protein-based polymers for drug-delivery applications

Expanding the chemical repertoire of natural and artificial protein-based polymers (PBPs) can enable the production of sequence-defined, yet chemically diverse, biopolymers with customized or new properties that cannot be accessed in PBPs composed of only natural amino acids. Various approaches can enable the expansion of the chemical repertoire of PBPs, including chemical and enzymatic treatments or the incorporation of unnatural amino acids. These techniques are employed to install a wide variety of chemical groups-such as bio-orthogonally reactive, cross-linkable, post-translation modifications, and environmentally responsive groups-which, in turn, can facilitate the design of customized PBP-based drug-delivery systems with modified, fine-tuned, or entirely new properties and functions. Here, we detail the existing and emerging technologies for expanding the chemical repertoire of PBPs and review several chemical groups that either demonstrate or are anticipated to show potential in the design of PBP-based drug delivery systems. Finally, we provide our perspective on the remaining challenges and future directions in this field.

Modified nucleic acids: replication, evolution, and next-generation therapeutics

Modified nucleic acids, also called xeno nucleic acids (XNAs), offer a variety of advantages for biotechnological applications and address some of the limitations of first-generation nucleic acid therapeutics. Indeed, several therapeutics based on modified nucleic acids have recently been approved and many more are under clinical evaluation. XNAs can provide increased biostability and furthermore are now increasingly amenable to in vitro evolution, accelerating lead discovery. Here, we review the most recent discoveries in this dynamic field with a focus on progress in the enzymatic replication and functional exploration of XNAs.

Hachimoji DNA and RNA: A genetic system with eight building blocks

We report DNA- and RNA-like systems built from eight nucleotide "letters" (hence the name "hachimoji") that form four orthogonal pairs. These synthetic systems meet the structural requirements needed to support Darwinian evolution, including a polyelectrolyte backbone, predictable thermodynamic stability, and stereoregular building blocks that fit a Schrödinger aperiodic crystal. Measured thermodynamic parameters predict the stability of hachimoji duplexes, allowing hachimoji DNA to increase the information density of natural terran DNA. Three crystal structures show that the synthetic building blocks do not perturb the aperiodic crystal seen in the DNA double helix. Hachimoji DNA was then transcribed to give hachimoji RNA in the form of a functioning fluorescent hachimoji aptamer. These results expand the scope of molecular structures that might support life, including life throughout the cosmos.

Alternative Biochemistries for Alien Life: Basic Concepts and Requirements for the Design of a Robust Biocontainment System in Genetic Isolation

The universal genetic code, which is the foundation of cellular organization for almost all organisms, has fostered the exchange of genetic information from very different paths of evolution. The result of this communication network of potentially beneficial traits can be observed as modern biodiversity. Today, the genetic modification techniques of synthetic biology allow for the design of specialized organisms and their employment as tools, creating an artificial biodiversity based on the same universal genetic code. As there is no natural barrier towards the proliferation of genetic information which confers an advantage for a certain species, the naturally evolved genetic pool could be irreversibly altered if modified genetic information is exchanged. We argue that an alien genetic code which is incompatible with nature is likely to assure the inhibition of all mechanisms of genetic information transfer in an open environment. The two conceivable routes to synthetic life are either de novo cellular design or the successive alienation of a complex biological organism through laboratory evolution. Here, we present the strategies that have been utilized to fundamentally alter the genetic code in its decoding rules or its molecular representation and anticipate future avenues in the pursuit of robust biocontainment.

The challenge of synthetic biology. Synthetic Darwinism and the aperiodic crystal structure

'Grand Challenges' offer ways to discover flaws in existing theory without first needing to guess what those flaws are. Our grand challenge here is to reproduce the Darwinism of terran biology, but on molecular platforms different from standard DNA. Access to Darwinism distinguishes the living from the non-living state. However, theory suggests that any biopolymer able to support Darwinism must (a) be able to form Schrödinger's `aperiodic crystal', where different molecular components pack into a single crystal lattice, and (b) have a polyelectrolyte backbone. In 1953, the descriptive biology of Watson and Crick suggested DNA met Schrödinger's criertion, forming a linear crystal with geometrically similar building blocks supported on a polyelectrolye backbone. At the center of genetics were nucleobase pairs that fit into that crystal lattice by having both size complementarity and hydrogen bonding complementarity to enforce a constant geometry. This review covers experiments that show that by adhering to these two structural rules, the aperiodic crystal structure is maintained in DNA having 6 (or more) components. Further, this molecular system is shown to support Darwinism. Together with a deeper understanding of the role played in crystal formation by the poly-charged backbone and the intervening scaffolding, these results define how we might search for Darwinism, and therefore life, on Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and other watery lagoons in our Solar System.

Artificially Expanded Genetic Information Systems for New Aptamer Technologies

Directed evolution was first applied to diverse libraries of DNA and RNA molecules a quarter century ago in the hope of gaining technology that would allow the creation of receptors, ligands, and catalysts on demand. Despite isolated successes, the outputs of this technology have been somewhat disappointing, perhaps because the four building blocks of standard DNA and RNA have too little functionality to have versatile binding properties, and offer too little information density to fold unambiguously. This review covers the recent literature that seeks to create an improved platform to support laboratory Darwinism, one based on an artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS) that adds independently replicating nucleotide “letters” to the evolving “alphabet”.

Structure and Biophysics for a Six Letter DNA Alphabet that Includes Imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazine-2(8H)-4(3H)-dione (X) and 2,4-Diaminopyrimidine (K)

A goal of synthetic biology is to develop new nucleobases that retain the desirable properties of natural nucleobases at the same time as expanding the genetic alphabet. The nonstandard Watson-Crick pair between imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazine-2(8H)-4(3H)-dione (X) and 2,4-diaminopyrimidine (K) does exactly this, pairing via complementary arrangements of hydrogen bonding in these two nucleobases, which do not complement any natural nucleobase. Here, we report the crystal structure of a duplex DNA oligonucleotide in B-form including two consecutive X:K pairs in GATCXK DNA determined as a host-guest complex at 1.75 Å resolution. X:K pairs have significant propeller twist angles, similar to those observed for A:T pairs, and a calculated hydrogen bonding pairing energy that is weaker than that of A:T. Thus, although inclusion of X:K pairs results in a duplex DNA structure that is globally similar to that of an analogous G:C structure, the X:K pairs locally and energetically more closely resemble A:T pairs.

Enzymatic Incorporation of Modified Purine Nucleotides in DNA

A series of nucleotide analogues, with a hypoxanthine base moiety (8-aminohypoxanthine, 1-methyl-8-aminohypoxanthine, and 8-oxohypoxanthine), together with 5-methylisocytosine were tested as potential pairing partners of N⁸ -glycosylated nucleotides with an 8-azaguanine or 8-aza-9-deazaguanine base moiety by using DNA polymerases (incorporation studies). The best results were obtained with the 5-methylisocytosine nucleotide followed by the 1-methyl-8-aminohypoxanthine nucleotide. The experiments demonstrated that small differences in the structure (8-azaguanine versus 8-aza-9-deazaguanine) might lead to significant differences in recognition efficiency and selectivity, base pairing by Hoogsteen recognition at the polymerase level is possible, 8-aza-9-deazaguanine represents a self-complementary base pair, and a correlation exists between in vitro incorporation studies and in vivo recognition by natural bases in Escherichia coli, but this recognition is not absolute (exceptions were observed).

Toward an Expanded Genome: Structural and Computational Characterization of an Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System

Although the fundamental properties of DNA as first proposed by Watson and Crick in 1953 provided a basic understanding of how duplex DNA was organized and might be replicated, it was not until the first crystal structures of DNA (Z-DNA in 1979, B-DNA in 1980, and A-DNA in 1982) that the true complexity of the molecule began to be appreciated. Many crystal structures of oligonucleotides have since shed light on the helical forms that "Watson-Crick" DNA can adopt, their associated groove widths, and the properties of the nucleobase pairs and their interactions in all three helical forms. Additional understanding of the properties of Watson-Crick DNA has been provided by computational studies employing a variety of theoretical methods. Together with these studies devoted to understanding Watson-Crick DNA, recent efforts to expand the genetic alphabet have founded a new field in synthetic biology. One of these efforts, the artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS) developed by Steven Benner and co-workers, takes advantage of orthogonal hydrogen bonding to produce DNA comprised of six nucleobase pairs, of which the most extensively studied is referred to as P:Z with P being 2-amino-imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazin-4(8H)-one) and Z being 6-amino-5-nitro-2(1H)-pyridone. P:Z forms three edge-on hydrogen bonds that differ from standard Watson-Crick pairs in the arrangement of acceptors and donor groups; P presents acceptor, acceptor, donor, and Z presents donor, donor, acceptor. Z is unique among the AEGIS nucleobases in having a nitro group present in the major groove. PZ-containing DNA has been exploited in a number of clinical applications and is being used to develop receptors and catalysts. Ultimately, the grand challenge will be to create a semisynthetic organism with an expanded genome. Furthermore, just as our understanding of the properties of natural DNA have benefited from structural and computational characterization, so too will our understanding of artificial DNA. This Account focuses on the structural and biophysical properties of AEGIS DNA containing P:Z pairs. We begin with the fundamental properties of P:Z nucleobase pairs, including their electrostatic potential and hydrogen-bonding energies, as elucidated by quantum mechanical calculations. We then examine the impact of including multiple consecutive P:Z pairs into duplex DNA providing an opportunity to investigate stacking interactions between P:Z pairs. The self-complementary 5'-CTTATPPTAZZATAAG was crystallized in B-form using the host-guest system along with analogous natural sequences including Gs or As. Use of the host-guest system to characterize B-DNA obviates a number of limitations on the structural characterization of sequences of interest; these include the ability to crystallize the desired sequences and to distinguish structural effects imparted by the lattice constraints from those inherent in the sequence itself. On the other hand, 3/6ZP, 5'-CTTATPPPZZZATAAG, was crystallized in A-form in a DNA-only lattice allowing a comparative analysis of P:Z pairs in two of the biologically relevant helical forms: A- and B-DNA. Computational studies on the 3/6ZP sequence starting in A-form provide additional evidence for a more energetically favorable stacking interaction, which we term the "slide" conformer, observed in the A-form crystal structure; this unusual stacking interaction plays a major role in altering the conformational dynamics observed for the PZ-containing duplex as compared to a GC-containing "control" duplex in long time scale molecular dynamics simulations. This combined use of structural and computational strategies paves the way for obtaining a detailed description of artificial DNA, both in how it differs from Watson-Crick DNA and in the rational discovery of proteins, such as endonucleases, transcription factors, and polymerases, which can specifically manipulate DNA containing AEGIS nucleobase pairs.

A Single Deoxynucleoside Kinase Variant from Drosophila melanogaster Synthesizes Monophosphates of Nucleosides That Are Components of an Expanded Genetic System

Deoxynucleoside kinase from D. melanogaster (DmdNK) has broad specificity; although it catalyzes the phosphorylation of natural pyrimidine more efficiently than natural purine nucleosides, it accepts all four 2'-deoxynucleosides and many analogues, using ATP as a phosphate donor to give the corresponding deoxynucleoside monophosphates. Here, we show that replacing a single amino acid (glutamine 81 by glutamate) in DmdNK creates a variant that also catalyzes the phosphorylation of nucleosides that form part of an artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS). By shuffling hydrogen bonding groups on the nucleobases, AEGIS adds potentially as many as four additional nucleobase pairs to the genetic "alphabet". Specifically, we show that DmdNK Q81E creates the monophosphates from the AEGIS nucleosides dP, dZ, dX, and dK (respectively 2-amino-8-(1'-β-d-2'-deoxyribofuranosyl)-imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazin-4(8H)-one, dP; 6-amino-3-(1'-β-d-2'-deoxyribofuranosyl)-5-nitro-1H-pyridin-2-one, dZ; 8-(1'β-d-2'-deoxy-ribofuranosyl)imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazine-2(8H)-4(3H)-dione, dX; and 2,4-diamino-5-(1'-β-d-2'-deoxyribofuranosyl)-pyrimidine, dK). Using a coupled enzyme assay, in vitro kinetic parameters were obtained for three of these nucleosides (dP, dX, and dK; the UV absorbance of dZ made it impossible to get its precise kinetic parameters). Thus, DmdNK Q81E appears to be a suitable enzyme to catalyze the first step in the biosynthesis of AEGIS 2'-deoxynucleoside triphosphates in vitro and, perhaps, in vivo, in a cell able to manage plasmids containing AEGIS DNA.

Efforts and Challenges in Engineering the Genetic Code

This year marks the 48th anniversary of Francis Crick’s seminal work on the origin of the genetic code, in which he first proposed the “frozen accident” hypothesis to describe evolutionary selection against changes to the genetic code that cause devastating global proteome modification. However, numerous efforts have demonstrated the viability of both natural and artificial genetic code variations. Recent advances in genetic engineering allow the creation of synthetic organisms that incorporate noncanonical, or even unnatural, amino acids into the proteome. Currently, successful genetic code engineering is mainly achieved by creating orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA/synthetase pairs to repurpose stop and rare codons or to induce quadruplet codons. In this review, we summarize the current progress in genetic code engineering and discuss the challenges, current understanding, and future perspectives regarding genetic code modification.

Alternative Watson-Crick Synthetic Genetic Systems

In its "grand challenge" format in chemistry, "synthesis" as an activity sets out a goal that is substantially beyond current theoretical and technological capabilities. In pursuit of this goal, scientists are forced across uncharted territory, where they must answer unscripted questions and solve unscripted problems, creating new theories and new technologies in ways that would not be created by hypothesis-directed research. Thus, synthesis drives discovery and paradigm changes in ways that analysis cannot. Described here are the products that have arisen so far through the pursuit of one grand challenge in synthetic biology: Recreate the genetics, catalysis, evolution, and adaptation that we value in life, but using genetic and catalytic biopolymers different from those that have been delivered to us by natural history on Earth. The outcomes in technology include new diagnostic tools that have helped personalize the care of hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide. In science, the effort has generated a fundamentally different view of DNA, RNA, and how they work.

Synthesis and Enzymology of 2'-Deoxy-7-deazaisoguanosine Triphosphate and Its Complement: A Second Generation Pair in an Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System

As with natural nucleic acids, pairing between artificial nucleotides can be influenced by tautomerism, with different placements of protons on the heterocyclic nucleobase changing patterns of hydrogen bonding that determine replication fidelity. For example, the major tautomer of isoguanine presents a hydrogen bonding donor-donor-acceptor pattern complementary to the acceptor-acceptor-donor pattern of 5-methylisocytosine. However, in its minor tautomer, isoguanine presents a hydrogen bond donor-acceptor-donor pattern complementary to thymine. Calculations, crystallography, and physical organic experiments suggest that this tautomeric ambiguity might be "fixed" by replacing the N-7 nitrogen of isoguanine by a CH unit. To test this hypothesis, we prepared the triphosphate of 2'-deoxy-7-deazaiso-guanosine and used it in PCR to estimate an effective tautomeric ratio "seen" by Taq DNA polymerase. With 7-deazaisoguanine, fidelity-per-round was ∼92%. The analogous PCR with isoguanine gave a lower fidelity-per-round of ∼86%. These results confirm the hypothesis with polymerases, and deepen our understanding of the role of minor groove hydrogen bonding and proton tautomerism in both natural and expanded genetic "alphabets", major targets in synthetic biology.

Synthetic genetic polymers: advances and applications

Advances and applications of synthetic genetic polymers (xeno-nucleic acids) are reviewed in this article. The types of synthetic genetic polymers are summarized. The basic properties of them are elaborated and their technical applications are presented. Challenges and prospects of synthetic genetic polymers are discussed.

Polymerase incorporation of a 2'-deoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphate bearing a 4-hydroxy-2-mercaptobenzimidazole nucleobase analogue

Here, we describe the enzymatic construction of a new larger base pair formed between adenine (A) and a 4-hydroxy-2-mercaptobenzimidazole (SB) nucleobase analogue. We investigated the enzymatic incorporation of 2'-deoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphate bearing a SB nucleobase analogue (dSBTP) into oligonucleotides (ONs) by DNA polymerases. dSBTP could be effectively incorporated at the site opposite a dA in a DNA template by several B family DNA polymerases. These findings provide new insights into various aspects of biotechnology, including the design of non-natural base pairs.

Ribonucleosides for an artificially expanded genetic information system

Rearranging hydrogen bonding groups adds nucleobases to an artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS), pairing orthogonally to standard nucleotides. We report here a large-scale synthesis of the AEGIS nucleotide carrying 2-amino-3-nitropyridin-6-one (trivially Z) via Heck coupling and a hydroboration/oxidation sequence. RiboZ is more stable against epimerization than its 2′-deoxyribo analogue. Further, T7 RNA polymerase incorporates ZTP opposite its Watson–Crick complement, imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazin-4(8H)one (trivially P), laying grounds for using this “second-generation” AEGIS Z:P pair to add amino acids encoded by mRNA.

Preparing synthetic biology for the world

Synthetic Biology promises low-cost, exponentially scalable products and global health solutions in the form of self-replicating organisms, or “living devices.” As these promises are realized, proof-of-concept systems will gradually migrate from tightly regulated laboratory or industrial environments into private spaces as, for instance, probiotic health products, food, and even do-it-yourself bioengineered systems. What additional steps, if any, should be taken before releasing engineered self-replicating organisms into a broader user space? In this review, we explain how studies of genetically modified organisms lay groundwork for the future landscape of biosafety. Early in the design process, biological engineers are anticipating potential hazards and developing innovative tools to mitigate risk. Here, we survey lessons learned, ongoing efforts to engineer intrinsic biocontainment, and how different stakeholders in synthetic biology can act to accomplish best practices for biosafety.

Synthetic constructs in/for the environment: managing the interplay between natural and engineered Biology

The plausible release of deeply engineered or even entirely synthetic/artificial microorganisms raises the issue of their intentional (e.g. bioremediation) or accidental interaction with the Environment. Containment systems designed in the 1980s-1990s for limiting the spread of genetically engineered bacteria and their recombinant traits are still applicable to contemporary Synthetic Biology constructs. Yet, the ease of DNA synthesis and the uncertainty on how non-natural properties and strains could interplay with the existing biological word poses yet again the challenge of designing safe and efficacious firewalls to curtail possible interactions. Such barriers may include xeno-nucleic acids (XNAs) instead of DNA as information-bearing molecules, rewriting the genetic code to make it non-understandable by the existing gene expression machineries, and/or making growth dependent on xenobiotic chemicals.

Synthetic nucleotides as probes of DNA polymerase specificity

The genetic code is continuously expanding with new nucleobases designed to suit specific research needs. These synthetic nucleotides are used to study DNA polymerase dynamics and specificity and may even inhibit DNA polymerase activity. The availability of an increasing chemical diversity of nucleotides allows questions of utilization by different DNA polymerases to be addressed. Much of the work in this area deals with the A family DNA polymerases, for example, Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I, which are DNA polymerases involved in replication and whose fidelity is relatively high, but more recent work includes other families of polymerases, including the Y family, whose members are known to be error prone. This paper focuses on the ability of DNA polymerases to utilize nonnatural nucleotides in DNA templates or as the incoming nucleoside triphosphates. Beyond the utility of nonnatural nucleotides as probes of DNA polymerase specificity, such entities can also provide insight into the functions of DNA polymerases when encountering DNA that is damaged by natural agents. Thus, synthetic nucleotides provide insight into how polymerases deal with nonnatural nucleotides as well as into the mutagenic potential of nonnatural nucleotides.

Setting the stage: the history, chemistry, and geobiology behind RNA

No community-accepted scientific methods are available today to guide studies on what role RNA played in the origin and early evolution of life on Earth. Further, a definition-theory for life is needed to develop hypotheses relating to the "RNA First" model for the origin of life. Four approaches are currently at various stages of development of such a definition-theory to guide these studies. These are (a) paleogenetics, in which inferences about the structure of past life are drawn from the structure of present life; (b) prebiotic chemistry, in which hypotheses with experimental support are sought that get RNA from organic and inorganic species possibly present on early Earth; (c) exploration, hoping to encounter life independent of terran life, which might contain RNA; and (d) synthetic biology, in which laboratories attempt to reproduce biological behavior with unnatural chemical systems.

Highly specific unnatural base pair systems as a third base pair for PCR amplification

Toward the expansion of the genetic alphabet of DNA, we present highly efficient unnatural base pair systems as an artificial third base pair for PCR. Hydrophobic unnatural base pair systems between 7-(2-thienyl)imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (Ds) and 2-nitro-4-propynylpyrrole (Px) were fine-tuned for efficient PCR, by assessing the amplification efficiency and fidelity using different polymerases and template sequence contexts and modified Px bases. Then, we found that some modifications of the Px base reduced the misincorporation rate of the unnatural base substrates opposite the natural bases in templates without reducing the Ds–Px pairing selectivity. Under optimized conditions using Deep Vent DNA polymerase, the misincorporation rate was extremely low (0.005%/bp/replication), which is close to that of the natural base mispairings by the polymerase. DNA fragments with different sequence contexts were amplified ∼10¹⁰-fold by 40 cycles of PCR, and the selectivity of the Ds–Px pairing was >99.9%/replication, except for 99.77%/replication for unfavorable purine-Ds-purine motifs. Furthermore, >97% of the Ds–Px pair in DNA survived in the 10²⁸-fold amplified products after 100-cycle PCR (10 cycles repeated 10 times). This highly specific Ds–Px pair system provides a framework for new biotechnology.

Amplification, mutation, and sequencing of a six-letter synthetic genetic system

The next goals in the development of a synthetic biology that uses artificial genetic systems will require chemistry-biology combinations that allow the amplification of DNA containing any number of sequential and nonsequential nonstandard nucleotides. This amplification must ensure that the nonstandard nucleotides are not unidirectionally lost during PCR amplification (unidirectional loss would cause the artificial system to revert to an all-natural genetic system). Further, technology is needed to sequence artificial genetic DNA molecules. The work reported here meets all three of these goals for a six-letter artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS) that comprises four standard nucleotides (G, A, C, and T) and two additional nonstandard nucleotides (Z and P). We report polymerases and PCR conditions that amplify a wide range of GACTZP DNA sequences having multiple consecutive unnatural synthetic genetic components with low (0.2% per theoretical cycle) levels of mutation. We demonstrate that residual mutation processes both introduce and remove unnatural nucleotides, allowing the artificial genetic system to evolve as such, rather than revert to a wholly natural system. We then show that mechanisms for these residual mutation processes can be exploited in a strategy to sequence "six-letter" GACTZP DNA. These are all not yet reported for any other synthetic genetic system.

Recognition of an expanded genetic alphabet by type-II restriction endonucleases and their application to analyze polymerase fidelity

To explore the possibility of using restriction enzymes in a synthetic biology based on artificially expanded genetic information systems (AEGIS), 24 type-II restriction endonucleases (REases) were challenged to digest DNA duplexes containing recognition sites where individual Cs and Gs were replaced by the AEGIS nucleotides Z and P [respectively, 6-amino-5-nitro-3-(1'-β-D-2'-deoxyribofuranosyl)-2(1H)-pyridone and 2-amino-8-(1'-β-D-2'-deoxyribofuranosyl)-imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazin-4(8H)-one]. These AEGIS nucleotides implement complementary hydrogen bond donor-donor-acceptor and acceptor-acceptor-donor patterns. Results allowed us to classify type-II REases into five groups based on their performance, and to infer some specifics of their interactions with functional groups in the major and minor grooves of the target DNA. For three enzymes among these 24 where crystal structures are available (BcnI, EcoO109I and NotI), these interactions were modeled. Further, we applied a type-II REase to quantitate the fidelity polymerases challenged to maintain in a DNA duplex C:G, T:A and Z:P pairs through repetitive PCR cycles. This work thus adds tools that are able to manipulate this expanded genetic alphabet in vitro, provides some structural insights into the working of restriction enzymes, and offers some preliminary data needed to take the next step in synthetic biology to use an artificial genetic system inside of living bacterial cells.

Exploiting models of molecular evolution to efficiently direct protein engineering

Directed evolution and protein engineering approaches used to generate novel or enhanced biomolecular function often use the evolutionary sequence diversity of protein homologs to rationally guide library design. To fully capture this sequence diversity, however, libraries containing millions of variants are often necessary. Screening libraries of this size is often undesirable due to inaccuracies of high-throughput assays, costs, and time constraints. The ability to effectively cull sequence diversity while still generating the functional diversity within a library thus holds considerable value. This is particularly relevant when high-throughput assays are not amenable to select/screen for certain biomolecular properties. Here, we summarize our recent attempts to develop an evolution-guided approach, Reconstructing Evolutionary Adaptive Paths (REAP), for directed evolution and protein engineering that exploits phylogenetic and sequence analyses to identify amino acid substitutions that are likely to alter or enhance function of a protein. To demonstrate the utility of this technique, we highlight our previous work with DNA polymerases in which a REAP-designed small library was used to identify a DNA polymerase capable of accepting non-standard nucleosides. We anticipate that the REAP approach will be used in the future to facilitate the engineering of biopolymers with expanded functions and will thus have a significant impact on the developing field of 'evolutionary synthetic biology'.

Biology by design: from top to bottom and back

Synthetic biology is a nascent technical discipline that seeks to enable the design and construction of novel biological systems to meet pressing societal needs. However, engineering biology still requires much trial and error because we lack effective approaches for connecting basic “parts” into higher-order networks that behave as predicted. Developing strategies for improving the performance and sophistication of our designs is informed by two overarching perspectives: “bottom-up” and “top-down” considerations. Using this framework, we describe a conceptual model for developing novel biological systems that function and interact with existing biological components in a predictable fashion. We discuss this model in the context of three topical areas: biochemical transformations, cellular devices and therapeutics, and approaches that expand the chemistry of life. Ten years after the construction of synthetic biology's first devices, the drive to look beyond what does exist to what can exist is ushering in an era of biology by design.

Xenobiology: a new form of life as the ultimate biosafety tool

Synthetic biologists try to engineer useful biological systems that do not exist in nature. One of their goals is to design an orthogonal chromosome different from DNA and RNA, termed XNA for xeno nucleic acids. XNA exhibits a variety of structural chemical changes relative to its natural counterparts. These changes make this novel information-storing biopolymer "invisible" to natural biological systems. The lack of cognition to the natural world, however, is seen as an opportunity to implement a genetic firewall that impedes exchange of genetic information with the natural world, which means it could be the ultimate biosafety tool. Here I discuss, why it is necessary to go ahead designing xenobiological systems like XNA and its XNA binding proteins; what the biosafety specifications should look like for this genetic enclave; which steps should be carried out to boot up the first XNA life form; and what it means for the society at large.

PCR with an expanded genetic alphabet

Expansion of the genetic alphabet with a third base pair would lay the foundation for a semisynthetic organism with an expanded genetic code and also have immediate in vitro applications. Previously, the unnatural base pairs formed between d5SICS and either dNaM or dMMO2 were shown to be well-replicated by DNA polymerases under steady-state conditions and also transcribed by T7 RNA polymerase efficiently in either direction. We now demonstrate that DNA containing either the d5SICS-dNaM or d5SICS-dMMO2 unnatural base pair may be amplified by PCR with fidelities and efficiencies that approach those of fully natural DNA. These results further demonstrate that the determinants of a functional unnatural base pair may be designed into predominantly hydrophobic nucleobases with no structural similarity to the natural purines or pyrimidines. Importantly, the results reveal that the unnatural base pairs may function within an expanded genetic alphabet and make possible many in vitro applications.

Reconstructed evolutionary adaptive paths give polymerases accepting reversible terminators for sequencing and SNP detection

Any system, natural or human-made, is better understood if we analyze both its history and its structure. Here we combine structural analyses with a "Reconstructed Evolutionary Adaptive Path" (REAP) analysis that used the evolutionary and functional history of DNA polymerases to replace amino acids to enable polymerases to accept a new class of triphosphate substrates, those having their 3'-OH ends blocked as a 3(')-ONH(2) group (dNTP-ONH(2)). Analogous to widely used 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside triphosphates (ddNTPs), dNTP-ONH(2)s terminate primer extension. Unlike ddNTPs, however, primer extension can be resumed by cleaving an O-N bond to restore an -OH group to the 3'-end of the primer. REAP combined with crystallographic analyses identified 35 sites where replacements might improve the ability of Taq to accept dNTP-ONH(2)s. A library of 93 Taq variants, each having replacements at three or four of these sites, held eight variants having improved ability to accept dNTP-ONH(2) substrates. Two of these (A597T, L616A, F667Y, E745H, and E520G, K540I, L616A) performed notably well. The second variant incorporated both dNTP-ONH(2)sand ddNTPs faithfully and efficiently, supporting extension-cleavage-extension cycles applicable in parallel sequencing and in SNP detection through competition between reversible and irreversible terminators. Dissecting these results showed that one replacement (L616A), not previously identified, allows Taq to incorporate both reversible and irreversible terminators. Modeling showed how L616A might open space behind Phe-667, allowing it to move to accommodate the larger 3'-substituent. This work provides polymerases for DNA analyses and shows how evolutionary analyses help explore relationships between structure and function in proteins.

A man-made ATP-binding protein evolved independent of nature causes abnormal growth in bacterial cells

Recent advances in de novo protein evolution have made it possible to create synthetic proteins from unbiased libraries that fold into stable tertiary structures with predefined functions. However, it is not known whether such proteins will be functional when expressed inside living cells or how a host organism would respond to an encounter with a non-biological protein. Here, we examine the physiology and morphology of Escherichia coli cells engineered to express a synthetic ATP-binding protein evolved entirely from non-biological origins. We show that this man-made protein disrupts the normal energetic balance of the cell by altering the levels of intracellular ATP. This disruption cascades into a series of events that ultimately limit reproductive competency by inhibiting cell division. We now describe a detailed investigation into the synthetic biology of this man-made protein in a living bacterial organism, and the effect that this protein has on normal cell physiology.

Mechanistic studies in the synthesis of a series of thieno-expanded xanthosine and guanosine nucleosides

During the synthetic pursuit of guanosine (triG) and xanthosine (triX) tricyclic nucleosides analogues, an interesting side product was discovered. In an effort to uncover the mechanistic factors leading to this result, a series of reaction conditions were investigated. It was found that by varying the conditions, the appearance of the side product could be controlled. In addition, the yield of the desired products could be manipulated to afford either a 50:50 mix of both triG and triX, or a majority of one or the other. To demonstrate the broad utility of the method, it was also adapted to the synthesis of guanosine and xanthosine from 5-amino-1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-4-imidazolecarboxyamide (AICAR). The mechanistic details surrounding the synthetic efforts are reported herein.

Incorporation of multiple sequential pseudothymidines by DNA polymerases and their impact on DNA duplex structure

Thermal denaturation and circular dichroism studies suggested that multiple (up to 12), sequential pseudothymidines, a representative C-glycoside, do not perturb the structure of a representative DNA duplex. Further, various Family A and B DNA polymerases were found to extend a primer by incorporating four sequential pseudothymidine triphosphates, and then continue the extension to generate full-length product. Detailed studies showed that Taq polymerase incorporated up to five sequential C-glycosides, but not more. These results constrain architectures for sequencing, quantitating, and analyzing DNA analogs that exploit C-glycosides, and define better the challenge of creating a synthetic biology using these with natural polymerases.

Enzymatic incorporation of a third nucleobase pair

DNA polymerases are identified that copy a non-standard nucleotide pair joined by a hydrogen bonding pattern different from the patterns joining the dA:T and dG:dC pairs. 6-Amino-5-nitro-3-(1′-β-d-2′-deoxyribofuranosyl)-2(1H)-pyridone (dZ) implements the non-standard ‘small’ donor–donor–acceptor (pyDDA) hydrogen bonding pattern. 2-Amino-8-(1′-β-D-2′-deoxyribofuranosyl)-imidazo[1,2-a]-1,3,5-triazin-4(8H)-one (dP) implements the ‘large’ acceptor–acceptor–donor (puAAD) pattern. These nucleobases were designed to present electron density to the minor groove, density hypothesized to help determine specificity for polymerases. Consistent with this hypothesis, both dZTP and dPTP are accepted by many polymerases from both Families A and B. Further, the dZ:dP pair participates in PCR reactions catalyzed by Taq, Vent (exo⁻) and Deep Vent (exo⁻) polymerases, with 94.4%, 97.5% and 97.5%, respectively, retention per round. The dZ:dP pair appears to be lost principally via transition to a dC:dG pair. This is consistent with a mechanistic hypothesis that deprotonated dZ (presenting a pyDAA pattern) complements dG (presenting a puADD pattern), while protonated dC (presenting a pyDDA pattern) complements dP (presenting a puAAD pattern). This hypothesis, grounded in the Watson–Crick model for nucleobase pairing, was confirmed by studies of the pH-dependence of mismatching. The dZ:dP pair and these polymerases, should be useful in dynamic architectures for sequencing, molecular-, systems- and synthetic-biology.