Synthesizing AND gate genetic circuits based on CRISPR-Cas9 for identification of bladder cancer cells.
The conventional strategy for cancer gene therapy offers limited control of specificity and efficacy. A possible way to overcome these limitations is to construct logic circuits. Here we present modular AND gate circuits based on CRISPR-Cas9 system. The circuits integrate cellular information from two promoters as inputs and activate the output gene only when both inputs are active in the tested cell lines. Using the luciferase reporter as the output gene, we show that the circuit specifically detects bladder cancer cells and significantly enhances luciferase expression in comparison to the human telomerase reverse transcriptase-renilla luciferase construct. We also test the modularity of the design by replacing the output with other cellular functional genes including hBAX, p21 and E-cadherin. The circuits effectively inhibit bladder cancer cell growth, induce apoptosis and decrease cell motility by regulating the corresponding gene. This approach provides a synthetic biology platform for targeting and controlling bladder cancer cells in vitro.
Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518039, China.
Yuchen
Y
Liu
Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518039, China.
Yayue
Y
Zeng
Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518039, China.
Li
L
Liu
Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518039, China.
Chengle
C
Zhuang
Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518039, China.
Xing
X
Fu
Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518039, China.
Weiren
W
Huang
Key Laboratory of Medical Reprogramming Technology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518039, China.
Zhiming
Z
Cai
D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D064113:CRISPR-Cas Systems / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D049410:Luciferases, Renilla / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D060170:Uroplakin II / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
D015820:Cadherins; C554658:UPK2 protein, human; D060170:Uroplakin II; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D049410:Luciferases, Renilla; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase