Part:BBa_K4932003

What is this part?

This is a part that goes along with the LucCage in order to create a modular biosensor system. The idea is that you can swap out the small binding region on the LucCage in order to change what the system is targeting. This has been shown by the baker lab to work for recognising and providing a positive signal for COVID spike, troponin proteins (for detecting heart attacks), HER2 and more. This system was recently named in the literature by the baker lab (Alfredo Quijano-Rubio et al, 2021). We have created this part based on their protein design, having obtained the permission to use this work in our iGEM project and publish the part in the registry. The system is incredibly valuable for iGEM teams focussing on diagnostics because all you need to do is swap out the target region in order to target a new protein.

Principles behind the biosensor

There are two parts, the cage and the key. Both have a section of luciferase coded in to them. When the cage binds to the protein of interest, a change in conformation occurs which allows a ‘lever’ to open. This means the cage is in an open conformation and the key can bind. When the key binds, the luciferase is reconstituted and a positive signal is given.

Use for other iGEM teams

Other igem teams can add a protein of their choice to this system in order to create a very specific biosensor. They can either use a protein found in nature (easier) or they can design their own using machine learning methods (rosetta, alpha fold, protein MPNN, RF diffusion) If any iGEM team is interested in this please see our guide on exactly how to achieve this in our contributions page!

Reference: References: Quijano-Rubio, A., Yeh, HW., Park, J. et al. De novo design of modular and tunable protein biosensors. Nature 591, 482–487 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03258-z