Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disease that is characterized by an inability to metabolize phenylalanine (Phe), which can result in neurotoxicity. To provide a potential alternative to a protein-restricted diet, we engineered Escherichia coli Nissle to express genes encoding Phe-metabolizing enzymes in response to anoxic conditions in the mammalian gut. Administration of our synthetic strain, SYNB1618, to the Pah PKU mouse model reduced blood Phe concentration by 38% compared with the control, independent of dietary protein intake. In healthy Cynomolgus monkeys, we found that SYNB1618 inhibited increases in serum Phe after an oral Phe dietary challenge. In mice and primates, Phe was converted to trans-cinnamate by SYNB1618, quantitatively metabolized by the host to hippurate and excreted in the urine, acting as a predictive biomarker for strain activity. SYNB1618 was detectable in murine or primate feces after a single oral dose, permitting the evaluation of pharmacodynamic properties. Our results define a strategy for translation of live bacterial therapeutics to treat metabolic disorders.

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Engineered bacteria (synthetic biotics) represent a new class of therapeutics that leverage the tools of synthetic biology. Translational testing strategies are required to predict synthetic biotic function in the human body. Gut-on-a-chip microfluidics technology presents an opportunity to characterize strain function within a simulated human gastrointestinal tract. Here, we apply a human gut-chip model and a synthetic biotic designed for the treatment of phenylketonuria to demonstrate dose-dependent production of a strain-specific biomarker, to describe human tissue responses to the engineered strain, and to show reduced blood phenylalanine accumulation after administration of the engineered strain. Lastly, we show how in vitro gut-chip models can be used to construct mechanistic models of strain activity and recapitulate the behavior of the engineered strain in a non-human primate model. These data demonstrate that gut-chip models, together with mechanistic models, provide a framework to predict the function of candidate strains in vivo.

In phenylketonuria (PKU) patients, a genetic defect in the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) leads to elevated systemic phenylalanine (Phe), which can result in severe neurological impairment. As a treatment for PKU, Escherichia coli Nissle (EcN) strain SYNB1618 was developed under Synlogic’s Synthetic Biotic™ platform to degrade Phe from within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This clinical-stage engineered strain expresses the Phe-metabolizing enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), catalyzing the deamination of Phe to the non-toxic product trans-cinnamate (TCA). In the present work, we generate a more potent EcN-based PKU strain through optimization of whole cell PAL activity, using biosensor-based high-throughput screening of mutant PAL libraries. A lead enzyme candidate from this screen is used in the construction of SYNB1934, a chromosomally integrated strain containing the additional Phe-metabolizing and biosafety features found in SYNB1618. Head-to-head, SYNB1934 demonstrates an approximate two-fold increase in in vivo PAL activity compared to SYNB1618.

The new technology of ultrathroughput MS (uMS) transforms the intrinsic capability of analyte multiplexing in mass spectrometry (MS) to sample multiplexing. Core technological advantages of uMS rely on the decoupled use of isotopic quantitation reference and nonisotopic mass coding of samples. These advantages include: (1) high sample-throughput potential, (2) utilization of minimal amounts of expensive stable isotopes for the quantitation reference, and (3) unleashing of the open-source exploration of the chemical structure diversity of nonisotopic reagents to significantly enhance the MS detectability of analytes. A particular uMS method, ultrathroughput multiple reaction monitoring (uMRM), is reported for one-experiment quantitation of a surrogate peptide (SVILLGR) of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in multiple serum samples. Following derivatization of the pair of spiked, isotopic reference (SVILLGR*) and endogenous, native peptide in each sample, all samples were pooled for a step of simultaneous enrichment and cleanup of derivatized peptide pairs using immobilized antibody. The MS analysis of the pooled sample reported the quantity and sample origin of the surrogate peptide. Several analyses with different sample throughput were presented, with the highest being 15-in-1. Screening of nonisotopic reagents used combinatorial libraries of peptidyl compounds, and the reagent selection was based on the derivatization effectiveness and the capability of MS signal enhancement for the peptide. The precision, accuracy, and linearity of the uMRM MS technology were found to be comparable with standard isotope dilution MRM MS.