Materials Synthetic Biology

Prokaryotic transcriptional regulatory elements are widely utilized building blocks for constructing regulatory genetic circuits adapted for mammalian cells and have found their way into a broad range of biotechnological applications. Prokaryotic transcriptional repressors, fused to eukaryotic transactivation or repression domains, compose the transcription factor, which binds and adjusts transcription from chimeric promoters containing the repressor-specific operator sequence. Escherichia coli and Chlamydia trachomatis share common features in the regulatory mechanism of the biosynthesis of l-tryptophan. The repressor protein TrpR of C. trachomatis regulates the trpRBA operon and the TrpR of E. coli regulates the trpEDCBA operon, both requiring l-tryptophan as a co-repressor. Fusion of these bacterial repressors to the VP16 transactivation domain of Herpes simplex virus creates synthetic transactivators that could bind and activate chimeric promoters, assembled by placing repressor-specific operator modules adjacent to a minimal promoter, in an l-tryptophan-adjustable manner. Combinations of different transactivator and promoter variants from the same or different bacterial species resulted in a multitude of regulatory systems where l-tryptophan regulation properties, background noise, and maximal gene expression levels were significantly diverse. Different l-tryptophan analogues showed diverse regulatory capacity depending on the promoter/transactivator combination. We believe the systems approach to rationally choose promoters, transactivators and inducer molecules, to obtain desired and predefined genetic expression dynamics and control profiles, will significantly advance the design of new regulatory circuits as well as improving already existing ones. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Functional biomaterials that detect and correct pathological parameters hold high promises for biomedical application. In this study we describe a biohybrid hydrogel that detects elevated concentrations of uric acid and responds by dissolution and the release of uric acid-degrading urate oxidase. This material was synthesized by incorporating PEG-stabilized urate oxidase into a polyacrylamide hydrogel that was crosslinked by the uric acid-sensitive interaction between the uric acid transcription factor HucR and its operator hucO. We characterize the uric acid responsiveness of the material and demonstrate that it can effectively be applied to counteract flares of uric acid in a mouse model. This approach might be a first step towards a biomedical device autonomously managing uric acid burst associated to gouty arthritis and the tumor lysis syndrome. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hydrogels provide a highly favorable matrix for immobilizing growth factors, enzymes or cells for biomedical applications like tissue engineering, drug delivery or the treatment of metabolic diseases. In this study we describe the synthesis and characterization of a hydrogel able to degrade l-ornithine, a metabolite that is highly elevated in congenital hyperornithinemia. The hydrogel was synthesized by embedding the l-ornithine-degrading enzymes l-ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) and l-ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) into a polymer network. The network was formed from linear polyacrylamide crosslinked by heterodimers of ODC and ornithine decarboxylase antizyme (OAz). The resulting hydrogel was shown to be stable under physiological conditions and to efficiently degrade l-ornithine. The hydrogel-stabilizing ODC-OAz interactions could subsequently be dissociated by the addition of antizyme inhibitor (AzI) which resulted in the inducible dissolution of the hydrogel. This l-ornithine-degrading hydrogel that can efficiently be eliminated when its functionality is no longer required might represent a first step towards an enzyme substitution approach against hyperornithinemia. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

The synthetic reconstruction of natural gene networks and the de novo design of artificial genetic circuits provide new insights into the cell's regulatory mechanisms and will open new opportunities for drug discovery and intelligent therapeutic schemes. We will present how modular synthetic biology tools like repressors, promoters and enzymes can be assembled into complex systems in order to discover small molecules to shut off antibiotic resistance in tubercle bacteria and to design self-sufficient therapeutic networks. The transfer of these synthetic biological modules to the materials science field enables the construction of novel drug-inducible biohybrid materials for biomedical applications. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Remote-controlled drug depots represent a highly valuable tool for the timely controlled administration of pharmaceuticals in a patient compliant manner. Here, the first pharmacologically controlled material that allows for the scheduled induction of a medical response in mice is described. To this aim, a novel, humanized biohybrid material that releases its cargo in response to a small-molecule stimulus licensed for human use is developed. The functionality of the material in mice is demonstrated by the remote-controlled delivery of a vaccine against the oncogenic human papillomavirus type 16. It is shown that the biohybrid depot-mediated immunoprotection is equivalent to the classical multi-injection-based vaccination. These results indicate that this material can be used as a universal remote-controlled vehicle for the patient-compliant delivery of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. A pharmacologically controlled hydrogel depot is presented allowing for the scheduled induction of a medical response in vivo. The vaccine-loaded hydrogel depot is administered to mice. At the desired point in time, the vaccine can be released from the depot by the oral administration of the stimulus molecule fluorescein resulting in protective immunization. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Biohybrid materials combining synthetic polymers with biological components are highly suited for tissue engineering in order to emulate the behavior of natural materials such as the extracellular matrix (ECM). In order to allow for an optimal cell-material interplay, the physical and biological parameters of the artificial matrix need to be dynamically remodeled during cultivation. Current tissue engineering concepts are mainly based on passive remodeling mechanisms including the degradation of the hydrogel and the release of incorporated biomolecules and therefore do not enable external adjustment of cultivation conditions. We present a novel hydrogel material that is able to serve as a cell growth matrix, whose degradation and presentation of cell-interacting biomolecules can be externally controlled by the addition of a pharmacological substance. The hydrogel is based on branched polyethylene glycol that is covalently decorated with the aminocoumarin-antibiotic switchable gyrase B protein conferring stimulus-responsive degradation. ECM properties were conferred to the hydrogels with cell attachment motifs and a general approach for the incorporation and inducible release of therapeutic biomolecules. This smart biohybrid material has the potential to serve as a next-generation tissue engineering device which allows for dynamic external adjustment of the physical and biological parameters, resulting in optimally controlled tissue formation. © 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The simplification of current vaccine administration regimes is of crucial interest in order to further sustain and expand the high impact of vaccines for public health. Most vaccines including the vaccine against hepatitis B need several doses to achieve protective immunization. In order to reduce the amount of repetitive injections, depot-based approaches represent a promising strategy. We present the application of novobiocin-sensitive biohybrid hydrogels as a depot for the pharmacologically controlled release of a vaccine against hepatitis B. Upon subcutaneous implantation of the vaccine depot into mice, we were able to release the vaccine by the oral administration of the stimulus molecule novobiocin resulting in successful immunization of the mice. This material-based vaccination regime holds high promises to replace classical vaccine injections conducted by medical personnel by the simple oral uptake of the stimulus thereby solving a major obstacle in increasing hepatitis B vaccination coverage.

A key feature of any living system is the ability to sense and react to the environmental stimuli. The biochemical characterization of the underlying biological sensors combined with advances in polymer chemistry has enabled the development of stimulus-sensitive biohybrid materials that translate most diverse chemical and biological input into a precise change in material properties. In this review article, we first describe synthesis strategies of how biological and chemical polymers can functionally be interconnected. We then provide a comprehensive overview of how the different properties of biological sensor molecules such as competitive target binding and allosteric modulation can be harnessed to develop responsive materials with applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery. Stimulus-sensing biohybrid materials have attracted significant interest as smart materials with applications especially in the biomedical field. Such materials harnessing unique properties of chemical and biological polymers are engineered to translate molecular stimuli into precisely defined mechanical material properties. This article gives an overview of how biological polymers can be used to control material properties and on their applications. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The caging of small molecules has revolutionized biological research by providing a means to regulate a wide range of processes. Here we report on a generic pharmacological method to cage proteins in a similar fashion. The present approach is of value in both fundamental and applied research, e.g. in tissue engineering. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.