Featured Parts:Cell-Cell-Signaling

Revision as of 16:11, 6 May 2006 by Bcanton (Talk | contribs)

Introduction

Coordinating the behavior of cells within a population requires cell-cell signaling. Information transfer between different groups of cells can also be enabled by cell-cell signaling. The registry contains parts and devices to enable this inter-cell communication.

Cell-cell signaling technology

Most of the existing methods to enable cell-cell signaling borrow technology from bacterial quorum sensing systems Bassler. The best characterized of these is the LuxI/R system from V. fischeri Nealson. LuxI is a synthase that converts SAM into a small molecule called an acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL). That molecule can diffuse across cell membranes and is stable in growth media at a range of pH. LuxR is a constitutively expressed protein that can bind AHL. When bound to AHL it can stimulate transcription from the right hand lux promoter. In the natural system, this promoter controls transcription of the LuxI enzyme leading to a positive feedback loop that increases transcription from the right hand lux promoter. In addition controlling the transcription of luxI, the promoter also controls transcription of luciferase.

A range of similar systems exist in other bacteria using homologous proteins that synthesize and respond to slightly modified versions of the V. fischeri AHL molecules. Differing levels of cross-talk exist among these different systems.

Device classes

A minimal set of devices to enable cell-cell signaling is a sender device and a receiver signal. These devices are sufficient to enable basic communication between cells in a population of bacteria. These devices have been defined and some proofs of concept tested. We expect that further classes of devices will be described in the future.

Sender devices

Currently, we define a sender device as a device that accepts an input of PoPS and outputs a rate of signaling molecule synthesis.


Receiver devices

The black box representation of a receiver device, F2620. The input is a concentration of an AHL molecule, 3OC6HSL and the output is PoPS.
The base part structure of the receiver device. The specific exammple shown is F2620

We define a receiver device as a device that accepts an input of a signaling molecule and produces a PoPS output.

We define a number of characteristics as being important to describe the performance of a receiver device, they are -

  • Transfer function (dependence of output on input)
  • Variation in transfer function
  • Specificity to input molecule
  • Stability of device function over long term operation.

The structure of the device (shown on the right) is a constitutive promoter controlling the production of the LuxR or a homologous receiver protein and a promoter whose PoPS output is controlled by the concentration of activated receiver protein.

The parts

Senders

Receivers

Other relevant parts & devices

  • BBa_I13015(currently listed as missing in the registry database, this is a sender device controlled by an inducible pBAD promoter.)
  • All the senders and receivers listed above use the 3OC6HSL signaling channel, however there are senders and receivers and the component parts specified or existing for each of the other well known signaling channels.

References

<biblio>
Bassler pmid=16212498 Nealson pmid=396467

</biblio>