The
emergence of genetically engineered bacteria has provided a
new means for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. However, in
vivo applications of these engineered bacteria are hindered by their
inefficient accumulation in areas of inflammation. In this study,
we constructed an engineered Escherichia coli (E. coli) for directional migration
toward tetrathionate (a biomarker of gut inflammation), which is regulated
by the TtrSR two-component system (TCS) from Shewanella
baltica OS195 (S. baltica). Specifically, we removed endogenous cheZ to control
the motility of E. coli. Moreover,
we introduced the reductase gene cluster (ttrBCA)
from Salmonella enterica
serotype typhimurium (S. typhimurium), a major
pathogen causing gut inflammation, into E. coli to metabolize tetrathionate. The resulting strain was tested for
its motility along the gradients of tetrathionate; the engineered
strain exhibits tropism to tetrathionate compared with the original
strain. Furthermore, the engineered E. coli could only restore its smooth swimming ability when tetrathionate
existed. With these modifications enabling tetrathionate-mediated
chemotactic and metabolizing activity, this strategy with therapeutic
elements will provide a great potential opportunity for target treatment
of various diseases by swapping the corresponding genetic circuits.