Genetic circuits and reaction cascades are of great importance for synthetic biology, biochemistry, and bioengineering. An open question is how to maximize the modularity of their design to enable the integration of different reaction networks and to optimize their scalability and flexibility. One option is encapsulation within liposomes which enables chemical reactions to proceed in well-isolated environments. Here we adapt liposome encapsulation to enable the modular, controlled compartmentalization of genetic circuits and cascades. We demonstrate that it is possible to engineer genetic circuit-containing synthetic minimal cells (synells) to contain multiple-part genetic cascades, and that these cascades can be controlled by external signals as well as inter-liposomal communication without cross-talk. We also show that liposomes containing different cascades can be fused in a controlled way so that the products of incompatible reactions can be brought together. Synells thus enable more modular creation of synthetic biology cascades, an essential step towards their ultimate programmability.

SignificanceWe explore the utility of expansion microscopy (ExM) in neuroscience and developmental biology using the zebrafish model. Regarding neuroscience studies, ExM enables the tracing of cellular processes in the zebrafish brain, as well as the imaging of synapses and their biomolecular content and organization. Regarding development, ExM enables the resolving of nuclear compartments, particularly nuclear invaginations and channels, and helps relate such cellular nanostructures to proteins of the cytoskeleton during embryogenesis.

High-throughput recording of signals embedded within inaccessible micro-environments is a technological challenge. The ideal recording device would be a nanoscale machine capable of quantitatively transducing a wide range of variables into a molecular recording medium suitable for long-term storage and facile readout in the form of digital data. We have recently proposed such a device, in which cation concentrations modulate the misincorporation rate of a DNA polymerase (DNAP) on a known template, allowing DNA sequences to encode information about the local cation concentration. In this work we quantify the cation sensitivity of DNAP misincorporation rates, making possible the indirect readout of cation concentration by DNA sequencing. Using multiplexed deep sequencing, we quantify the misincorporation properties of two DNA polymerases – Dpo4 and Klenow exo− – obtaining the probability and base selectivity of misincorporation at all positions within the template. We find that Dpo4 acts as a DNA recording device for Mn2+ with a misincorporation rate gain of ∼2%/mM. This modulation of misincorporation rate is selective to the template base: the probability of misincorporation on template T by Dpo4 increases >50-fold over the range tested, while the other template bases are affected less strongly. Furthermore, cation concentrations act as scaling factors for misincorporation: on a given template base, Mn2+ and Mg2+ change the overall misincorporation rate but do not alter the relative frequencies of incoming misincorporated nucleotides. Characterization of the ion dependence of DNAP misincorporation serves as the first step towards repurposing it as a molecular recording device.

The ability to monitor and perturb RNAs in living cells would benefit greatly from a modular protein architecture that targets unmodified RNA sequences in a programmable way. We report that the RNA-binding protein PumHD (Pumilio homology domain), which has been widely used in native and modified form for targeting RNA, can be engineered to yield a set of four canonical protein modules, each of which targets one RNA base. These modules (which we call Pumby, for Pumilio-based assembly) can be concatenated in chains of varying composition and length, to bind desired target RNAs. The specificity of such Pumby-RNA interactions was high, with undetectable binding of a Pumby chain to RNA sequences that bear three or more mismatches from the target sequence. We validate that the Pumby architecture can perform RNA-directed protein assembly and enhancement of translation of RNAs. We further demonstrate a new use of such RNA-binding proteins, measurement of RNA translation in living cells. Pumby may prove useful for many applications in the measurement, manipulation, and biotechnological utilization of unmodified RNAs in intact cells and systems.

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