合成生物学研究进展

合成生物学是以工程化设计思路,构建标准化的元器件和模块,改造已存在的天然系统或者从头合成全新的人工生命体系,实现在化学品合成(包括材料、能源和天然化合物)、医学、农业、环境等领域的应用。人们利用基本的生物学元件设计和构建了基因开关、振荡器、放大器、逻辑门、计数器等合成器件,实现对生命系统的重新编程并执行特殊功能。模块化处理生物的代谢途径,并在底盘细胞上进行组装和优化,可以实现大宗化学品和精细化学品的合成。目前人们已经在丁醇、异丁醇、青蒿素和紫杉醇等化合物的生物合成上取得了重要进展。近年来还发展了多种基因组编辑和组装技术,可精确地对基因组进行编辑,人们还成功地合成了噬菌体基因组、支原体基因组和酵母基因组。在未来的50～100年内,合成生物学将对人类的医疗、化学品制造(含药品)、军事产生渐进性的、渗透性的但颠覆性的意义。     

Biosystems design by directed evolution

Through iterative rounds of genetic diversification and screening or selection, directed evolution has been widely used to engineer relatively simple biosystems such as nucleic acids and proteins with desired functions. In addition, directed evolution has played an important role in engineering more complex biosystems such as pathways and genomes. Since 2013, directed evolution has been further explored for biosystems design with numerous newly developed techniques that have enabled design and engineering of proteins, pathways, and genomes in a much more effective manner. In this review, we will highlight the abiotic biotransformations arisen from directed evolution and novel strategies for continuous evolution in vivo and ultrahigh-throughput screening. We will also discuss the future challenges and opportunities of applying directed evolution for biosystems design.     

Scalable and Selective β-Hydroxy-α-Amino Acid Synthesis Catalyzed by Promiscuous l-Threonine Transaldolase ObiH

Enzymes from secondary metabolic pathways possess broad potential for the selective synthesis of complex bioactive molecules. However, the practical application of these enzymes for organic synthesis is dependent on the development of efficient, economical, operationally simple, and well-characterized systems for preparative scale reactions. We sought to bridge this knowledge gap for the selective biocatalytic synthesis of β-hydroxy-α-amino acids, which are important synthetic building blocks. To achieve this goal, we demonstrated the ability of ObiH, an l -threonine transaldolase, to achieve selective milligram-scale synthesis of a diverse array of non-standard amino acids (nsAAs) using a scalable whole cell platform. We show how the initial selectivity of the catalyst is high and how the diastereomeric ratio of products decreases at high conversion due to product re-entry into the catalytic cycle. ObiH-catalyzed reactions with a variety of aromatic, aliphatic and heterocyclic aldehydes selectively generated a panel of β-hydroxy-α-amino acids possessing broad functional-group diversity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that ObiH-generated β-hydroxy-α-amino acids could be modified through additional transformations to access important motifs, such as β-chloro-α-amino acids and substituted α-keto acids.     

Intersecting Xenobiology and Neometabolism To Bring Novel Chemistries to Life

The diversity of life relies on a handful of chemical elements (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus) as part of essential building blocks; some other atoms are needed to a lesser extent, but most of the remaining elements are excluded from biology. This circumstance limits the scope of biochemical reactions in extant metabolism – yet it offers a phenomenal playground for synthetic biology. Xenobiology aims to bring novel bricks to life that could be exploited for (xeno)metabolite synthesis. In particular, the assembly of novel pathways engineered to handle nonbiological elements (neometabolism) will broaden chemical space beyond the reach of natural evolution. In this review, xeno-elements that could be blended into nature's biosynthetic portfolio are discussed together with their physicochemical properties and tools and strategies to incorporate them into biochemistry. We argue that current bioproduction methods can be revolutionized by bridging xenobiology and neometabolism for the synthesis of new-to-nature molecules, such as organohalides.     

Multi-Site Incorporation of Nonstandard Amino Acids into Protein-Based Biomaterials

The ability of natural biomaterials to shape, support, and orchestrate function inspires our efforts to produce functional materials. Guided by protein-based biomaterials, template-directed incorporation of synthetic building blocks, such as nonstandard amino acids (nsAAs), can expand the functions of biomaterials by endowing them with new physical and biophysical properties. In this short review, we describe existing technologies for multi-site nsAA incorporation into proteins. We then discuss examples of the application of this technology for engineering new functions in artificial biopolymers, for creating bio-inspired adhesives, and for improving the stability of biomaterials. We conclude by briefly discussing recent advances in synthetic biology that have the potential to expand our ability to design protein-based biomaterials composed of numerous and increasingly exotic nonstandard monomers.     

Historical and marketing trends of natural/synthetic fatty acids

As long as a substantial portion of raw materials for natural fatty acids are relatively inexpensive by-products of other major industries, natural fatty acids should fulfill the world's projected needs at least through 1985. Production of synthetic fatty acids may also increase; however, at the present time the cost of their raw material and processing has made them largely noncompetitive, except in a few cases. Synthetic organic acid manufacturers currently supplying short chain products will continue their efforts to enter the detergent range fatty acid market area. We expect some breakthrough in synthetics during the life of our forecast. However, potential producers have yet to develop an economically competitive synthetic fatty acid as a replacement for natural fatty acids in the U.S. Petroleum-based products include odd, even, and branched chain acids whose performance must be proven. Finally, the petroleum base for synthetic fatty acids no longer has the price stability we have been accustomed to in the past. Recent changes in price of ethylene and forecasts are evidence of this trends for the future.     

Improving Cell‐Free Protein Synthesis through Genome Engineering of Escherichia coli Lacking Release Factor 1

Site‐specific incorporation of non‐standard amino acids (NSAAs) into proteins opens the way to novel biological insights and applications in biotechnology. Here, we describe the development of a high yielding cell‐free protein synthesis (CFPS) platform for NSAA incorporation from crude extracts of genomically recoded Escherichia coli lacking release factor 1. We used genome engineering to construct synthetic organisms that, upon cell lysis, lead to improved extract performance. We targeted five potential negative effectors to be disabled: the nuclease genes rna, rnb, csdA, mazF, and endA. Using our most productive extract from strain MCJ.559 (csdA^? endA^?), we synthesized 550±40 μg mL^?1 of modified superfolder green fluorescent protein containing p‐acetyl‐L ‐phenylalanine. This yield was increased to ～1300 μg mL^?1 when using a semicontinuous method. Our work has implications for using whole genome editing for CFPS strain development, expanding the chemistry of biological systems, and cell‐free synthetic biology.     

Synthetic Biology Approaches in the Development of Engineered Therapeutic Microbes

Since the intimate relationship between microbes and human health has been uncovered, microbes have been in the spotlight as therapeutic targets for several diseases. Microbes contribute to a wide range of diseases, such as gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes and cancer. However, as host-microbiome interactions have not been fully elucidated, treatments such as probiotic administration and fecal transplantations that are used to modulate the microbial community often cause nonspecific results with serious safety concerns. As an alternative, synthetic biology can be used to rewire microbial networks such that the microbes can function as therapeutic agents. Genetic sensors can be transformed to detect biomarkers associated with disease occurrence and progression. Moreover, microbes can be reprogrammed to produce various therapeutic molecules from the host and bacterial proteins, such as cytokines, enzymes and signaling molecules, in response to a disturbed physiological state of the host. These therapeutic treatment systems are composed of several genetic parts, either identified in bacterial endogenous regulation systems or developed through synthetic design. Such genetic components are connected to form complex genetic logic circuits for sophisticated therapy. In this review, we discussed the synthetic biology strategies that can be used to construct engineered therapeutic microbes for improved microbiome-based treatment.     

合成生物学在医药及能源领域的应用

合成生物学是以工程学思想为指导,对天然生物系统进行重新设计与改造,同时设计并合成新的生物元件、模块和系统的崭新学科。合成生物学是自然科学发展到现阶段的产物,并已经在医药、能源等领域取得了一些显著成果。本文综述了在工程细胞中利用合成生物学方法构建抗疟疾药物青蒿素的前体物青蒿二烯,抗癌药物紫杉醇的前体物紫杉二烯,以及脂肪酸酯、脂肪醇、高级醇的合成途径等研究进展。此外,一些重要的合成生物学相关技术,大大加速工程细胞的重构与进化,为构建应用于生产领域的新功能细胞提供方便实用的工具。     

氨基酸对大肠杆菌BL21产嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶的影响

采用单因素方差分析,考察了合成培养基中各种氨基酸对大肠杆菌BL21产嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶总酶活的影响;同时采用聚类分析和粗糙集分析,考察了复合培养基中氨基酸对大肠杆菌BL21产嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶总酶活的影响。结果表明,在合成培养基和复合培养基中对总酶活影响显著的是不同的氨基酸。在复合培养基中,丙氨酸和甘氨酸对产酶有明显促进作用且存在交互作用,两者浓度分别控制在80~140 mg.L-1和140~200 mg.L-1之间时能够很好地保证发酵产量。     

人工代谢路径适配性的研究进展

微生物细胞工厂以可再生资源为原料,实现了大宗化学品和天然产物的可持续生产,并有望替代石油化工炼制和动植物提取。剪接天然或人工代谢路径是构建微生物细胞工厂的基础。然而,剪接代谢路径造成的代谢流扰动,导致微生物细胞工厂的适配性差,降低了微生物细胞工厂的生产性能。提高人工代谢路径之间的适配性,以及人工代谢路径与底盘微生物细胞之间的适配性,将是改善微生物细胞工厂生产性能的关键。本文从强化与平衡人工代谢路径的代谢通量,解除人工代谢路径与底盘细胞内源代谢路径的交互作用,以及强化人工代谢路径与底盘细胞整体代谢网络的适配性层面,对提高微生物细胞工厂适配性的研究现状进行介绍。开发高效的多重适配性调控策略,在细胞水平重置代谢路径的适配性与提高微生物细胞对代谢产物的适配性,将是未来的研究重点。     

In silico Support for Eschenmoser’s Glyoxylate Scenario

A core topic of research in prebiotic chemistry is the search for plausible synthetic routes that connect the building blocks of modern life, such as sugars, nucleotides, amino acids, and lipids to “molecular food sources” that were likely to have been abundant on early Earth. In a recent contribution, Albert Eschenmoser emphasised the importance of catalytic and autocatalytic cycles in establishing such abiotic synthesis pathways. The accumulation of intermediate products furthermore provides additional catalysts that allow pathways to change over time. We show here that generative models of chemical spaces based on graph grammars make it possible to study such phenomena in a systematic manner. In addition to reproducing the key steps of Eschenmoser’s hypothesis paper, we discovered previously unexplored potentially autocatalytic pathways from HCN to glyoxylate. A cascade of autocatalytic cycles could efficiently re-route matter, distributed over the combinatorial complex network of HCN hydrolysation chemistry, towards a potential primordial metabolism. The generative approach also has it intrinsic limitations: the unsupervised expansion of the chemical space remains infeasible due to the exponential growth of possible molecules and reactions between them. Here, in particular, the combinatorial complexity of the HCN polymerisation and hydrolysation networks forms the computational bottleneck. As a consequence, guidance of the computational exploration by chemical experience is indispensable.     

CrossTORC and WNTegration in Disease: Focus on Lymphangioleiomyomatosis

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and wingless-related integration site (Wnt) signal transduction networks are evolutionarily conserved mammalian growth and cellular development networks. Most cells express many of the proteins in both pathways, and this review will briefly describe only the key proteins and their intra- and extracellular crosstalk. These complex interactions will be discussed in relation to cancer development, drug resistance, and stem cell exhaustion. This review will also highlight the tumor-suppressive tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) mutated, mTOR-hyperactive lung disease of women, lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). We will summarize recent advances in the targeting of these pathways by monotherapy or combination therapy, as well as future potential treatments.     

Noncanonical Amino Acids in Synthetic Biosafety and Post-translational Modification Studies

The incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) has been extensively studied because of its broad applicability. In the past decades, various in vitro and in vivo ncAA incorporation approaches have been developed to generate synthetic recombinant proteins. Herein, we discuss the methodologies for ncAA incorporation, and their use in diverse research areas, such as in synthetic biosafety and for studies of post-translational modifications.     

Biological Applications of Expanded Genetic Codes

Substantial efforts in the past decade have resulted in the systematic expansion of genetic codes, allowing for the direct ribosomal incorporation of ～100 unnatural amino acids into bacteria, yeast, mammalian cells, and animals. Here, we illustrate the versatility of expanded genetic codes in biology and bioengineering, focusing on the application of expanded genetic codes to problems in protein, cell, synthetic, and experimental evolutionary biology. As the expanded genetic code field continues to develop, its place as a foundational technology in the whole of biological sciences will solidify.     

A fluorescence selection method for accurate large-gene synthesis

The fundamental problem for low-cost gene synthesis is errors that occur during the synthetic process. To address this problem, we developed a practical method that exploits the fact that the predominant errors are deletions. In this method, a simple fluorescence-based readout was used to distinguish error-free synthetic DNA molecules. To do this, we constructed vectors that contained multiple cloning sites and GFP. In the vectors, the GFP gene is designed to be out-of-frame, but insertion of an in-framed synthetic DNA construct into the appropriate cloning site will lead to fluorescent cell colonies. We successfully used this method to synthesize five genes and improved the bp per error from 629 to 6552 by selecting green fluorescent colonies.     

Synthetic Biomarker Design by Using Analyte‐Responsive Acetaminophen

The use of synthetic biomarkers is an emerging technique to improve disease diagnosis. Here, we report a novel design strategy that uses analyte‐responsive acetaminophen (APAP) to expand the catalogue of analytes available for synthetic biomarker development. As proof‐of‐concept, we designed hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)‐responsive APAP (HR‐APAP) and succeeded in H₂O₂ detection with cellular and animal experiments. In fact, for blood samples following HR‐APAP injection, we demonstrated that the plasma concentration ratio [APAP+APAP conjugates]/[HR‐APAP] accurately reflects in vivo differences in H₂O₂ levels. We anticipate that our practical methodology will be broadly useful for the preparation of various synthetic biomarkers.