Part:BBa_K4414010

NR3C1

This basic part consists of the amino-terminal domain (NTD), DNA binding domain (DBD), hinge region and ligand binding domain (LBD)(BBa_K4414000).[1]

Usage and Biology

As glucocorticoid receptor, it can function both as a transcription factor that binds to glucocorticoid response elements (GRE) in the promoters of glucocorticoid responsive genes to activate their transcription, and as a regulator of other transcription factors. This receptor is typically found in the cytoplasm, but upon ligand binding, is transported into the nucleus.[2]

Figure1. Schematic figure of BBa_K4414010

Sequence and Features

Assembly Compatibility:

• 10
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
• 12
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
• 21
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
• 23
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
• 25
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]
• 1000
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]

Functional Validation

Method

To test the feasibility and specific effect of this part for constructing the gene pathway of our project, we cotransfected a plasmid with the upstream gene and a plasmid with TCE-Tyr into HEK-293T cells. Cells were treated with 10, 50, or 100 nM Glucocorticoids 6 h post-transfection. Cells without glucocorticoid treatment were used as control. An excitation wave of 554nm was used to make the protein visible under a fluorescence microscope. Then we can observe the red fluorescence of cells at 24 h post glucocorticoids treatment.

Figure 3: Cotransfected our upstream plasmid with the upstream gene and a plasmid with TCE-Tyr into cells

Result

The test results are as follows:

Figure 4: The red fluorescence of HEK-293T cells at 24 h in the case of 0 and 100 glucocorticoid stimulation.

As it turns out, our pathway is feasible, and we visualized pressure changes that are invisible and difficult to self-accurately assess, characterizing whether there is pressure and the magnitude of pressure in terms of red fluorescence production and strength grade. Future iGEM teams can use this part by simply replace the upstream part to transform the abstract into concrete work as we did.

Reference

[1]Syverud BC, Gumucio JP, Rodriguez BL, Wroblewski OM, Florida SE, Mendias CL, Larkin LM. A Transgenic tdTomato Rat for Cell Migration and Tissue Engineering Applications. Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 2018 May;24(5):263-271. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEC.2017.0406. Epub 2018 Apr 10. PMID: 29490563; PMCID: PMC5946766.

[2]Shaner NC, Campbell RE, Steinbach PA, Giepmans BN, Palmer AE, Tsien RY. Improved monomeric red, orange and yellow fluorescent proteins derived from Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein. Nat Biotechnol. 2004 Dec;22(12):1567-72. doi: 10.1038/nbt1037. Epub 2004 Nov 21. PMID: 15558047.