RESUMO
A fascinating question in neuroscience is how ensembles of neurons, originating from different locations, extend to the proper place and by the right time to create precise circuits. Here, we investigate this question in the Drosophila visual system, where photoreceptors re-sort in the lamina to form the crystalline-like neural superposition circuit. The repeated nature of this circuit allowed us to establish a data-driven, standardized coordinate system for quantitative comparison of sparsely perturbed growth cones within and across specimens. Using this common frame of reference, we investigated the extension of the R3 and R4 photoreceptors, which is the only pair of symmetrically arranged photoreceptors with asymmetric target choices. Specifically, we found that extension speeds of the R3 and R4 growth cones are inherent to their cell identities. The ability to parameterize local regularity in tissue organization facilitated the characterization of ensemble cellular behaviors and dissection of mechanisms governing neural circuit formation.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Drosophila/fisiologia , Drosophila/fisiologia , Cones de Crescimento/fisiologia , Células Fotorreceptoras de Invertebrados/fisiologia , Visão Ocular , AnimaisRESUMO
Halomonas strain TD01, a newly identified halophilic bacterium, has proven to be a promising low-cost host for the production of chemicals. However, genetic manipulation in Halomonas sp. is still difficult due to the lack of well-characterized and tunable expression systems. In this study, a systematic, efficient method was exploited to construct both a constitutive promoter library and inducible promoters. Porin, a highly expressed protein in Halomonas TD01, was first identified from the Halomonas TD01 proteome. Subsequent study of the intergenic region upstream of porin led to the identification of a core promoter region, including -10 and -35 elements. By randomizing the sequence between the -35 and -10 elements, a constitutive promoter library was obtained with 310-fold variation in transcriptional activity; an inducible promoter with a >200-fold induction was built by integrating a lac operator into the core promoter region. As two complementary expression systems, the constitutive and inducible promoters were then employed to regulate the biosynthetic pathway of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) in Halomonas TD01, demonstrating the usefulness of the expression systems, furthermore, they could be applied in future metabolic engineering of Halomonas TD strains, and the systematic method used in this study can be generalized to other less-characterized bacterial strains.
Assuntos
Bioengenharia/métodos , Halomonas/genética , Porinas/genética , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Vias Biossintéticas , Biblioteca Gênica , Hidroxibutiratos/metabolismo , Óperon Lac , Poliésteres/metabolismoRESUMO
Mathematical modeling of genetic circuits generally assumes that gene expression is at steady state when measurements are performed. However, conventional methods of measurement do not necessarily guarantee that this assumption is satisfied. In this study, we reveal a bi-plateau mode of gene expression at the single-cell level in bacterial batch cultures. The first plateau is dynamically active, where gene expression is at steady state; the second plateau, however, is dynamically inactive. We further demonstrate that the predictability of assembled genetic circuits in the first plateau (steady state) is much higher than that in the second plateau where conventional measurements are often performed. By taking the nature of steady state into consideration, our method of measurement promises to directly capture the intrinsic property of biological parts/circuits regardless of circuit-host or circuit-environment interactions.
Assuntos
Modelos Teóricos , Bactérias/genética , Bactérias/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Bactérias/metabolismo , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Técnicas de Cultura Celular por Lotes , Expressão Gênica , Redes Reguladoras de Genes , Plasmídeos/genética , Plasmídeos/metabolismoRESUMO
Cancer therapy has traditionally focused on eliminating fast-growing populations of cells. Yet, an increasing body of evidence suggests that small subpopulations of cancer cells can evade strong selective drug pressure by entering a 'persister' state of negligible growth. This drug-tolerant state has been hypothesized to be part of an initial strategy towards eventual acquisition of bona fide drug-resistance mechanisms. However, the diversity of drug-resistance mechanisms that can expand from a persister bottleneck is unknown. Here we compare persister-derived, erlotinib-resistant colonies that arose from a single, EGFR-addicted lung cancer cell. We find, using a combination of large-scale drug screening and whole-exome sequencing, that our erlotinib-resistant colonies acquired diverse resistance mechanisms, including the most commonly observed clinical resistance mechanisms. Thus, the drug-tolerant persister state does not limit--and may even provide a latent reservoir of cells for--the emergence of heterogeneous drug-resistance mechanisms.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos , Cloridrato de Erlotinib/farmacologia , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamento farmacológico , Animais , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/metabolismo , Camundongos , Mutação/efeitos dos fármacos , Células Tumorais Cultivadas/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
Ubiquitin is essential for eukaryotic life and varies in only 3 amino acid positions between yeast and humans. However, recent deep sequencing studies indicate that ubiquitin is highly tolerant to single mutations. We hypothesized that this tolerance would be reduced by chemically induced physiologic perturbations. To test this hypothesis, a class of first year UCSF graduate students employed deep mutational scanning to determine the fitness landscape of all possible single residue mutations in the presence of five different small molecule perturbations. These perturbations uncover 'shared sensitized positions' localized to areas around the hydrophobic patch and the C-terminus. In addition, we identified perturbation specific effects such as a sensitization of His68 in HU and a tolerance to mutation at Lys63 in DTT. Our data show how chemical stresses can reduce buffering effects in the ubiquitin proteasome system. Finally, this study demonstrates the potential of lab-based interdisciplinary graduate curriculum.
Assuntos
Análise Mutacional de DNA , Proteínas Mutantes/genética , Proteínas Mutantes/metabolismo , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/enzimologia , Estresse Fisiológico , Ubiquitina/genética , Ubiquitina/metabolismo , Biologia/educação , Humanos , Complexo de Endopeptidases do Proteassoma/genética , Complexo de Endopeptidases do Proteassoma/metabolismo , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/fisiologia , Estudantes , UniversidadesRESUMO
In microbial communities, bacterial populations are commonly controlled using indiscriminate, broad range antibiotics. There are few ways to target specific strains effectively without disrupting the entire microbiome and local environment. Here, we use conjugation, a natural DNA horizontal transfer process among bacterial species, to deliver an engineered CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) system for targeting specific genes in recipient Escherichia coli cells. We show that delivery of the CRISPRi system is successful and can specifically repress a reporter gene in recipient cells, thereby establishing a new tool for gene regulation across bacterial cells and potentially for bacterial population control.
Assuntos
Sistemas CRISPR-Cas/genética , Conjugação Genética/genética , Engenharia Genética/métodos , Interferência de RNA , Escherichia coli/genética , Transferência Genética Horizontal , Modelos Genéticos , Biologia SintéticaRESUMO
Synthetic genetic circuits are programmed in living cells to perform predetermined cellular functions. However, designing higher-order genetic circuits for sophisticated cellular activities remains a substantial challenge. Here we program a genetic circuit that executes Pavlovian-like conditioning, an archetypical sequential-logic function, in Escherichia coli. The circuit design is first specified by the subfunctions that are necessary for the single simultaneous conditioning, and is further genetically implemented using four function modules. During this process, quantitative analysis is applied to the optimization of the modules and fine-tuning of the interconnections. Analogous to classical Pavlovian conditioning, the resultant circuit enables the cells to respond to a certain stimulus only after a conditioning process. We show that, although the conditioning is digital in single cells, a dynamically progressive conditioning process emerges at the population level. This circuit, together with its rational design strategy, is a key step towards the implementation of more sophisticated cellular computing.
Assuntos
Escherichia coli/genética , Escherichia coli/fisiologia , Redes Reguladoras de Genes , Citometria de Fluxo , Microscopia de FluorescênciaRESUMO
The concept of microbial consortia is of great attractiveness in synthetic biology. Despite of all its benefits, however, there are still problems remaining for large-scaled multicellular gene circuits, for example, how to reliably design and distribute the circuits in microbial consortia with limited number of well-behaved genetic modules and wiring quorum-sensing molecules. To manage such problem, here we propose a formalized design process: (i) determine the basic logic units (AND, OR and NOT gates) based on mathematical and biological considerations; (ii) establish rules to search and distribute simplest logic design; (iii) assemble assigned basic logic units in each logic operating cell; and (iv) fine-tune the circuiting interface between logic operators. We in silico analyzed gene circuits with inputs ranging from two to four, comparing our method with the pre-existing ones. Results showed that this formalized design process is more feasible concerning numbers of cells required. Furthermore, as a proof of principle, an Escherichia coli consortium that performs XOR function, a typical complex computing operation, was designed. The construction and characterization of logic operators is independent of "wiring" and provides predictive information for fine-tuning. This formalized design process provides guidance for the design of microbial consortia that perform distributed biological computation.
Assuntos
Bactérias/metabolismo , Bactérias/genética , Biologia SintéticaRESUMO
Synthetic biology aims to rationally construct biological devices with required functionalities. Methods that automate the design of genetic devices without post-hoc adjustment are therefore highly desired. Here we provide a method to predictably design genetic toggle switches with predetermined bistability. To accomplish this task, a biophysical model that links ribosome binding site (RBS) DNA sequence to toggle switch bistability was first developed by integrating a stochastic model with RBS design method. Then, to parametrize the model, a library of genetic toggle switch mutants was experimentally built, followed by establishing the equivalence between RBS DNA sequences and switch bistability. To test this equivalence, RBS nucleotide sequences for different specified bistabilities were in silico designed and experimentally verified. Results show that the deciphered equivalence is highly predictive for the toggle switch design with predetermined bistability. This method can be generalized to quantitative design of other probabilistic genetic devices in synthetic biology.