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Synthetic Biology underpins advances in the bioeconomy
Biological systems - including the simplest cells - exhibit a broad range of functions to thrive in their environment. Research in the Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology is focused on the possibility of engineering the underlying biochemical processes to solve many of the challenges facing society, from healthcare to sustainable energy. In particular, we model, analyse, design and build biological and biochemical systems in living cells and/or in cell extracts, both exploring and enhancing the engineering potential of biology.
As part of our research we develop novel methods to accelerate the celebrated Design-Build-Test-Learn synthetic biology cycle. As such research in the Centre for Synthetic Biology highly multi- and interdisciplinary covering computational modelling and machine learning approaches; automated platform development and genetic circuit engineering ; multi-cellular and multi-organismal interactions, including gene drive and genome engineering; metabolic engineering; in vitro/cell-free synthetic biology; engineered phages and directed evolution; and biomimetics, biomaterials and biological engineering.
@unpublished{Brödel:2019:10.1101/725739,
author = {Brödel, A and Rodrigues, R and Jaramillo, A and Isalan, M},
doi = {10.1101/725739},
title = {Engineering the smallest transcription factor: accelerated evolution of a 63-amino acid peptide dual activator-repressor},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/725739},
year = {2019}
}
TY - UNPB
AB - Transcription factors control gene expression in all life. This raises the question of what is the smallest protein that can support such activity. In nature, Cro from bacteriophage λ is the smallest known repressor (66 amino acids; a.a.) but activators are typically much larger (e.g. λ cI, 237 a.a.). Indeed, previous efforts to engineer a minimal activator from Cro resulted in no activity in vivo . In this study, we show that directed evolution results in a new Cro activator-repressor that functions as efficiently as λ cI, in vivo . To achieve this, we develop Phagemid-Assisted Continuous Evolution: PACEmid. We find that a peptide as small as 63-a.a. functions efficiently as an activator and/or repressor. To our knowledge, this is the smallest protein gene regulator reported to date, highlighting the capacity of transcription factors to evolve from very short peptide sequences.
AU - Brödel,A
AU - Rodrigues,R
AU - Jaramillo,A
AU - Isalan,M
DO - 10.1101/725739
PY - 2019///
TI - Engineering the smallest transcription factor: accelerated evolution of a 63-amino acid peptide dual activator-repressor
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/725739
ER -