Part:BBa_K3431045
zz146_B_ToeholdSwitch-Regulated Invertase
Introduction
zz146_B_ToeholdSwitch-Regulated Invertase is a genetic device that can be applied as a biosensor for miRNA. It is designed to detect and measure the amount of miR-146 by the expression of Thermotoga maritima Invertase (BBa_K3431000). The invertase can convert sucrose to glucose, which can be easily measured by a personal glucose meter (PGM).
Components
zz146_B_ToeholdSwitch-Regulated Invertase consists of 4 basic parts: T7 promoter (BBa_I719005), zz146_B toehold switch (BBa_K3431036), invertase (BBa_K3431000), and T7 terminator (BBa_K731721). The mechanism of the detection is mainly based on the regulatory part, zz146_B Toehold Switch for miR-146 Detection (BBa_K3431036). Upon binding with miR-146, its hairpin structure can be opened up and the ribosomes can bind with its RBS (ribosome binding site), triggering the translation process of the downstream reporter, invertase (BBa_K3431000). As for the T7 promoter (BBa_I719005) and T7 terminator (BBa_K731721), they are the essential genetic elements for the PURExpress protein synthesis kit.
Construction
The 2020 iGEM CSMU-Taiwan used in-fusion cloning to construct the composite part. The process is shown below.
Response in different miRNA
To further understand its functionality, 2020 iGEM CSMU-Taiwan conducted a series of tests. The plasmid would be transcribed and translated with the protein synthesis kit at 37℃ for 2 hours. We would then add 5μl of 0.5M sucrose and measured the glucose concentration with RightestTM GS550 glucose meter after 30 minutes. In our experiments, the ON state refers to the conditions with miRNA triggers; while the OFF state means that there was no miRNA in the environment. We calculated the ON/OFF ratio of the toehold switch, which is defined as “the glucose concentration of the ON state/ the glucose concentration of the OFF state”.
Results
The glucose concentration in the ON state with miR-146 is about 20 mg/dL, indicating the sensitivity of the toehold switch is quite low. The ON/OFF ratio with miR-146 is 2.44, which suggested the regulatory function of the toehold switch. By contrast, the ON/OFF ratios with miR-191 and miR-223 are 1.56 and 1.89, respectively. These ratios are close to 1, meaning the zz146_B toehold switch has high specificity. As a result, zz146_B_ToeholdSwitch-Regulated Invertase has been proven to be useful for miR-146 detection.
Reference
Green, A. A., Silver, P. A., Collins, J. J., & Yin, P. (2014). Toehold switches: de-novo-designed regulators of gene expression. Cell, 159(4), 925-939. Pardee, K., Green, A. A., Takahashi, M. K., Braff, D., Lambert, G., Lee, J. W., ... & Daringer, N. M. (2016). Rapid, low-cost detection of Zika virus using programmable biomolecular components. Cell, 165(5), 1255-1266. Wang, S., Emery, N. J., & Liu, A. P. (2019). A novel synthetic toehold switch for microRNA detection in mammalian cells. ACS synthetic biology, 8(5), 1079-1088.
Sequence and Features
- 10INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]Illegal EcoRI site found at 40
- 12INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]Illegal EcoRI site found at 40
Illegal NheI site found at 1421 - 21INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]Illegal EcoRI site found at 40
Illegal BglII site found at 1192
Illegal BamHI site found at 1322
Illegal XhoI site found at 1393 - 23INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]Illegal EcoRI site found at 40
- 25INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]Illegal EcoRI site found at 40
Illegal AgeI site found at 993 - 1000COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]
None |