Designer cells programming quorum-sensing interference with microbes

Autor: Ferdinand Sedlmayer, David Ausländer, Marius Müller, Martin Fussenegger, Dennis Hell
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Communications
Nature Communications, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2018)
Nature Communications, 9
ISSN: 2041-1723
Popis: Quorum sensing is a promising target for next-generation anti-infectives designed to address evolving bacterial drug resistance. The autoinducer-2 (AI-2) is a key quorum-sensing signal molecule which regulates bacterial group behaviors and is recognized by many Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Here we report a synthetic mammalian cell-based microbial-control device that detects microbial chemotactic formyl peptides through a formyl peptide sensor (FPS) and responds by releasing AI-2. The microbial-control device was designed by rewiring an artificial receptor-based signaling cascade to a modular biosynthetic AI-2 production platform. Mammalian cells equipped with the microbial-control gene circuit detect formyl peptides secreted from various microbes with high sensitivity and respond with robust AI-2 production, resulting in control of quorum sensing-related behavior of pathogenic Vibrio harveyi and attenuation of biofilm formation by the human pathogen Candida albicans. The ability to manipulate mixed microbial populations through fine-tuning of AI-2 levels may provide opportunities for future anti-infective strategies.
Bacterial populations communicate with AI-2 signaling molecules, helping to coordinate biofilm development and other group behaviors. Here the authors design a genetic circuit for mammalian cells that allows them to sense bacterial populations and interfere with quorum communication.
Databáze: OpenAIRE