Isolation of a mutant auxotrophic for L-alanine and identification of three major aminotransferases that synthesize L-alanine in Escherichia coli.

For Escherichia coli, it has been assumed that L-alanine is synthesized by alanine-valine transaminase (AvtA) in conjunction with an unknown alanine aminotransferase(s). We isolated alanine auxotrophs from a prototrophic double mutant deficient in AvtA and YfbQ, a novel alanine aminotransferase, by chemical mutagenesis. A shotgun cloning experiment identified two genes, uncharacterized yfdZ and serC, that complemented the alanine auxotrophy. When the yfdZ- or serC-mutation was introduced into the double mutant, one triple mutant (avtA yfbQ yfdZ) showed alanine auxotrophy, and another (avtA yfbQ serC), prototrophy. In addition, we found that four independent alanine auxotrophs possessed a point mutation in yfdZ but not in serC. We also found that yfdZ expression was induced in minimal medium. Furthermore, yfbQ-bearing plasmid conferred the ability to excrete alanine on the mutant lacking D-amino acid dehydrogenase-encoding gene, dadA. From these results, we concluded that E. coli synthesizes L-alanine by means of three aminotransferases, YfbQ, YfdZ, and AvtA.

Entrapment and measurement of a biologically functionalized microbead with a microwell electrode.

A chip with integrated electrophoretic and electrochemical systems was developed to manipulate either an individual microbead or a cell inside a microwell electrode (MWE) for electrochemical measurement. The optimal MWE geometry (30 microm diameter and 25 microm depth) was designed to accommodate the micro particles according to the simulated results. A chip device was sequentially built from a slide patterned with Pt electrodes, an adhesive tape defined with a flow channel (200 microm in width and 25 microm in height), and an indium tin oxide (ITO) cover. The MWE not only generated an active electrophoretic force to trap the particle but also provided a low flow velocity area (LFVA) to stabilize the trapped bead or cell in a continuous flow. Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) theory was employed to explain the electrochemical behaviors of the MWE. An enhanced current was confirmed as the redox recycling effect on the conductive ITO cover. The catalytic reaction of an individual alkaline phosphatase coated microbead (ALP-bead) was electrochemically detected with the MWE after being trapped. The ALP on the trapped ALP-bead catalyzed the hydrolysis of p-aminophenylphosphate (PAPP) to p-aminophenol (PAP), and then a decaying amperogram (+0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl) due to a tiny PAP quantity around the MWE was observed.

Transfected single-cell imaging by scanning electrochemical optical microscopy with shear force feedback regulation.

Gene-transfected single HeLa cells were characterized using a scanning electrochemical/optical microscope (SECM/OM) system with shear-force-based probe-sample distance regulation to simultaneously capture electrochemical, fluorescent, and topographic images. The outer and inner states of single living cells were obtained as electrochemical and fluorescent signals, respectively, by using an optical fiber-nanoelectrode probe. A focused ion beam (FIB) was used to mill the optical aperture and the ring electrode at the probe apex (the inner and outer radii of the ring electrode were 37 and 112 nm, respectively). To apply an appropriate shear force between the probe tip and the living cell surface, we optimized the amplitude of oscillation of the tuning fork to which the probe was attached. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) were adopted to drastically increase the feedback speed of the tip-sample distance regulation, shorten the scanning time for imaging, and enhance the accuracy and quality of the living cell images. In employing these improvements, we simultaneously measured the cellular expression activity of both secreted alkaline phosphatase outside and GFP inside by using the SECM/OM with shear force distance regulation.

Electrochemical gene-function analysis for single cells with addressable microelectrode/microwell arrays.

To each his own: An addressable electrochemical device consisting of orthogonally arranged rows and columns of electrodes has been constructed to monitor protein expression in genetically engineered cells at the single-cell level. The response based on redox cycling reflected the different expression levels of the enzyme from individual HeLa cells transfected with a plasmid vector including secreted alkaline phosphatase.

Reporter gene expression at single-cell level characterized with real-time RT-PCR, chemiluminescence, fluorescence, and electrochemical imaging.

mRNA from single cells was quantified using real-time RT-PCR after recording the address and reporter protein activity with chemiluminescence, fluorescence, and electrochemical techniques, using luciferase, green fluorescent protein, and secreted alkaline phosphatase. mRNA copy number ranging from below 10(3) to 10(7) in single cells showed a lognormal distribution for both externally introduced reporter genes and internally expressed genes. The fluctuation in the gene expression decreased with the increase of the number of cells picked but did not decrease with the increase of mRNA copy number per cell. We found that the correlation coefficients for mRNA and protein expression in logarithmic plot at single-cell level were much lower than 1.00.

Electrochemical single-cell gene-expression assay combining dielectrophoretic manipulation with secreted alkaline phosphatase reporter system.

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) was used for the analysis of single-cell gene-expression signals on the basis of a reporter system. We microfabricated a single-cell array on an Indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode comprising 4 x 4 SU-8 microwells with a diameter of 30microm and a depth of 25microm. HeLa cells transfected with plasmid vectors encoding the secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) were seeded in the microwell at a concentration of 1 cell per well by positive-dielectrophoresis (pDEP). A pDEP pulse of 3.0Vpp and 1MHz was applied between the microwell array/ITO electrode and an ITO counter electrode located on the top of the flow-cell assembly of the microdevice. The electrochemical responses of the individual HeLa cells transfected with SEAP were significantly larger than those of the wild-type HeLa cells. The electrochemical response of the transfected single cells was statistically distinguishable from that of wild-type HeLa cells. The size of the wells and the material of the single-cell array were optimized in order to evaluate the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced activation process of nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) that was used as the model for on-chip monitoring of cellular signal transduction.

Development of electrochemical reporter assay using HeLa cells transfected with vector plasmids encoding various responsive elements.

Electrochemical assay using HeLa cell lines transfected with various plasmid vectors encoding SEAP (secreted alkaline phosphatase) as the reporter has been performed by using SECM (scanning electrochemical microscopy). The plasmid vector contains different responsive elements that include GRE (glucocorticoid response elements), CRE (cAMP responsive elements), or kappaB (binding site for NFkappaB (nuclear factor kappa B)) upstream of the SEAP sequence. The transfected HeLa cells were patterned on a culture dish in a 4x4 array of circles of diameter 300 microm by using the PDMS (poly(dimethylsiloxane)) stencil technique. The cellular array was first exposed to 100 ng mL(-1) dexamethasone, 10 ng mL(-1) forskolin, or 100 ng mL(-1) TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor alpha) after which it was further cultured in an RPMI culture medium for 6 h. After incubation, the cellular array was soaked in a measuring solution containing 4.7 mM PAPP (p-aminophenylphosphate) at pH 9.5, following which electrochemical measurements were performed immediately within 40 min. The SECM method allows parallel evaluation of different cell lines transfected with pGRE-SEAP, pCRE-SEAP, and pNFkappaB-SEAP patterned on the same solid support for detection of the oxidation current of PAP (p-aminophenol) flux produced from only 300 HeLa cells in each stencil pattern. The results of the SECM method were highly sensitive as compared to those obtained from the conventional CL (chemiluminescence) protocol with at least 5x10(4) cells per well.