Plug-and-play Metabolic Transducers Expand the Chemical Detection Space of Cell-free Biosensors

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2019 Apr 14

PMID 30979906

Citations 45

Authors

Peter L Voyvodic

Amir Pandi

Mathilde Koch

Ismael Conejero

Emmanuel Valjent

Philippe Courtet

Eric Renard

Jean-Loup Faulon

Jerome Bonnet

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cell-free transcription-translation systems have great potential for biosensing, yet the range of detectable chemicals is limited. Here we provide a workflow to expand the range of molecules detectable by cell-free biosensors through combining synthetic metabolic cascades with transcription factor-based networks. These hybrid cell-free biosensors have a fast response time, strong signal response, and a high dynamic range. In addition, they are capable of functioning in a variety of complex media, including commercial beverages and human urine, in which they can be used to detect clinically relevant concentrations of small molecules. This work provides a foundation to engineer modular cell-free biosensors tailored for many applications.

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