title: Toward total synthesis of cell function: Reconstituting cell dynamics with synthetic biology.
abstract: Biological phenomena, such as cellular differentiation and phagocytosis, are fundamental processes that enable cells to fulfill important physiological roles in multicellular organisms. In the field of synthetic biology, the study of these behaviors relies on the use of a broad range of molecular tools that enable the real-time manipulation and measurement of key components in the underlying signaling pathways. This Review will focus on a subset of synthetic biology tools known as bottom-up techniques, which use technologies such as optogenetics and chemically induced dimerization to reconstitute cellular behavior in cells. These techniques have been crucial not only in revealing causal relationships within signaling networks but also in identifying the minimal signaling components that are necessary for a given cellular function. We discuss studies that used these systems in a broad range of cellular and molecular phenomena, including the time-dependent modulation of protein activity in cellular proliferation and differentiation, the reconstitution of phagocytosis, the reconstitution of chemotaxis, and the regulation of actin reorganization. Finally, we discuss the potential contribution of synthetic biology to medicine.
authors: Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Center for Cell Dynamics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors: Allen K
authors: AK
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Center for Cell Dynamics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. jderose1@jhmi.edu jctinoue@jhmi.edu.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: DeRose
authors: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors: Tasuku
authors: T
authors: Ueno
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, 840 West Campus Drive, West Haven, CT 06516, USA. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
authors: Benjamin
authors: B
authors: Lin
authors: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.
authors: Toru
authors: T
authors: Komatsu
authors: Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Center for Cell Dynamics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Nakamura
authors: Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Center for Cell Dynamics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan. jderose1@jhmi.edu jctinoue@jhmi.edu.
authors: Takanari
authors: T
authors: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D006801:Humans; D062308:Optogenetics; D010587:Phagocytosis; D015398:Signal Transduction; D058615:Synthetic Biology