Robust and sensitive control of a quorum‐sensing circuit by two interlocked feedback loops

The quorum‐sensing (QS) response of Vibrio fischeri involves a rapid switch between low and high induction states of the lux operon over a narrow concentration range of the autoinducer (AI) 3‐oxo‐hexanoyl‐L ‐homoserine lactone. In this system, LuxR is an AI‐dependent positive regulator of the lux operon, which encodes the AI synthase. This creates a positive feedback loop common in many bacterial species that exhibit QS‐controlled gene expression. Applying a combination of modeling and experimental analyses, we provide evidence for a LuxR autoregulatory feedback loop that allows LuxR to increase its concentration in the cell during the switch to full lux activation. Using synthetic lux gene fragments, with or without the AI synthase gene, we show that the buildup of LuxR provides more sensitivity to increasing AI, and promotes the induction process. Elevated LuxR levels buffer against spurious variations in AI levels ensuring a robust response that endows the system with enhanced hysteresis. LuxR autoregulation also allows for two distinct responses within the same cell population.     

MMP-7基因真核表达载体的构建及其在HeLa细胞中的表达与鉴定

目的：构建MMP-7基因真核重组质粒,检测并鉴定MMP-7在人宫颈癌HeLa细胞中的表达。方法：提取宫颈癌组织总RNA,通过基因克隆构建MMP-7基因真核表达重组质粒pcDNA3.1（＋）/MMP-7,酶切、PCR及基因测序鉴定,用阳离子脂质体介导采用基因转染技术转染人宫颈癌Hela细胞,RT-PCR检测外源基因的表达、间接免疫荧光法检测对表达产物进行鉴定。结果：成功构建了重组表达质粒pcDNA3.1（＋）/MMP-7并转染了人宫颈癌Hela细胞,通过RT-PCR可以检测到MMP-7 mRNA在Hela细胞中的表达,经间接免疫荧光反应可检测到明显的阳性反应,而转染空载体组表达阴性。结论：构建的重组质粒pcDNA3.1（＋）/MMP-7能在Hela细胞中表达,为该蛋白在人子宫癌后续的功能研究奠定了基础。     

人Polo样激酶1基因的克隆表达及其影响c-Abl表达水平功能的初探

目的:克隆并在293细胞中表达人Polo样激酶1(Plk1)基因,探索Plk1对非受体型酪氨酸激酶c-Abl表达水平的影响。方法:利用PCR法扩增Plk1基因,分别定向克隆至pcDNA3-Flag及pCMV-Myc真核表达载体,将上述质粒分别转染293细胞进行瞬时表达,Western印迹检测Plk1蛋白的表达;将上述质粒分别与c-Abl表达质粒共转293细胞,检测带有不同标签的Flag-Plk1或Myc-Plk1对细胞中c-Abl激酶表达的影响。结果:构建了Flag-Plk1和Myc-Plk1真核表达质粒,其在293细胞中均可表达,蛋白的相对分子质量为68×103;与其共转的c-Abl激酶表达水平显著下调。结论:在293细胞中表达了Flag-Plk1和Myc-Plk1蛋白,且初步发现Plk1可以抑制c-Abl的表达。     

The regulatory roles of the galactose permease and kinase in the induction response of the GAL network in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The GAL genetic switch of Saccharomyces cerevisiae exhibits an ultrasensitive response to the inducer galactose as well as the "all-or-none" behavior characteristic of many eukaryotic regulatory networks. We have constructed a strain that allows intermediate levels of gene expression from a tunable GAL1 promoter at both the population and the single cell level by altering the regulation of the galactose permease Gal2p. Similar modifications to other feedback loops regulating the Gal80p repressor and the Gal3p signaling protein did not result in similarly tuned responses, indicating that the level of inducer transport is unique in its ability to control the switch response of the network. In addition, removal of the Gal1p galactokinase from the network resulted in a regimed response due to the dual role of this enzyme in galactose catabolism and transport. These two activities have competing effects on the response of the network to galactose such that the transport effects of Gal1p are dominant at low galactose concentrations, whereas its catabolic effects are dominant at high galactose concentrations. In addition, flow cytometry analysis revealed the unexpected phenomenon of multiple populations in the gal1delta strains, which were not present in the isogenic GAL1 background. This result indicates that Gal1p may play a previously undescribed role in the stability of the GAL network response.     

猪细小病毒VP2蛋白主要抗原表位基因真核表达载体的构建及表达

Using a pair of specific primers designed according to the relevant nucleotide sequences from GenBank, the main antigen domain for VP2 gene of Porcine parvovirus was ampilified with PCR method using the genomic DNA as template. The PCR product was cloned into the expression vector pIREShyg to get a recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid pIREShyg-VP2, which was then transfected into the CHO-K1 cells. The expressed product was detected by IFA after the positive cell clone was selected with hygromycin. The result revealed that the main antigen domain for VP2 gene of porcine parvovirus was stably expressed in CHO-K1 cells.     

Subpopulations of sensorless bacteria drive fitness in fluctuating environments

Populations of bacteria often undergo a lag in growth when switching conditions. Because growth lags can be large compared to typical doubling times, variations in growth lag are an important but often overlooked component of bacterial fitness in fluctuating environments. We here explore how growth lag variation is determined for the archetypical switch from glucose to lactose as a carbon source in Escherichia coli. First, we show that single-cell lags are bimodally distributed and controlled by a single-molecule trigger. That is, gene expression noise causes the population before the switch to divide into subpopulations with zero and nonzero lac operon expression. While “sensorless” cells with zero preexisting lac expression at the switch have long lags because they are unable to sense the lactose signal, any nonzero lac operon expression suffices to ensure a short lag. Second, we show that the growth lag at the population level depends crucially on the fraction of sensorless cells and that this fraction in turn depends sensitively on the growth condition before the switch. Consequently, even small changes in basal expression can significantly affect the fraction of sensorless cells, thereby population lags and fitness under switching conditions, and may thus be subject to significant natural selection. Indeed, we show that condition-dependent population lags vary across wild E. coli isolates. Since many sensory genes are naturally low expressed in conditions where their inducer is not present, bimodal responses due to subpopulations of sensorless cells may be a general mechanism inducing phenotypic heterogeneity and controlling population lags in switching environments. This mechanism also illustrates how gene expression noise can turn even a simple sensory gene circuit into a bet hedging module and underlines the profound role of gene expression noise in regulatory responses.

Is ignorance bliss for some bacterial cells? Single-cell analysis of the archetypical switch from glucose to lactose as a carbon source in E. coli shows that bacteria can exhibit stochastic bimodal responses to external stimuli because the corresponding sensory circuit is so lowly expressed that some cells are effectively blind to the stimulus.     

Molecular mechanisms creating bistable switches at cell cycle transitions

Progression through the eukaryotic cell cycle is characterized by specific transitions, where cells move irreversibly from stage i−1 of the cycle into stage i. These irreversible cell cycle transitions are regulated by underlying bistable switches, which share some common features. An inhibitory protein stalls progression, and an activatory protein promotes progression. The inhibitor and activator are locked in a double-negative feedback loop, creating a one-way toggle switch that guarantees an irreversible commitment to move forward through the cell cycle, and it opposes regression from stage i to stage i−1. In many cases, the activator is an enzyme that modifies the inhibitor in multiple steps, whereas the hypo-modified inhibitor binds strongly to the activator and resists its enzymatic activity. These interactions are the basis of a reaction motif that provides a simple and generic account of many characteristic properties of cell cycle transitions. To demonstrate this assertion, we apply the motif in detail to the G1/S transition in budding yeast and to the mitotic checkpoint in mammalian cells. Variations of the motif might support irreversible cellular decision-making in other contexts.     

EGFP-LacZ双报告基因真核表达载体的构建及体外表达

构建(β-半乳糖苷酶与增强型绿色荧光蛋白(EGFP)双报告基因的真核表达载体,并在真核细胞中表达。采用PCR方法从质粒pLenti6/V5-GW/LacZ 中获取LacZ全基因,与pEGFP-C1重组后构建真核表达载体pEGFP-C1-LacZ。该重组质粒经PCR和酶切方法鉴定后,在脂质体介导下转染293FT细胞株及鸡胚成纤维细胞,通过荧光观察和组织化学方法检测Egfp和LacZ基因的表达。结果表明,LacZ基因被克隆到pEGFP-C1,成功构建了双报告基因真核表达载体。该重组质粒转染后的细胞呈现绿色荧光,组织化学方法检测到呈蓝色的细胞,表明两个报告基因均能在细胞内正确表达。     

Sex determination in insects: a binary decision based on alternative splicing

The gene regulatory networks that control sex determination vary between species. Despite these differences, comparative studies in insects have found that alternative splicing is reiteratively used in evolution to control expression of the key sex-determining genes. Sex determination is best understood in Drosophila where activation of the RNA binding protein-encoding gene Sex-lethal is the central female-determining event. Sex-lethal serves as a genetic switch because once activated it controls its own expression by a positive feedback splicing mechanism. Sex fate choice in is also maintained by self-sustaining positive feedback splicing mechanisms in other dipteran and hymenopteran insects, although different RNA binding protein-encoding genes function as the binary switch. Studies exploring the mechanisms of sex-specific splicing have revealed the extent to which sex determination is integrated with other developmental regulatory networks.     

Tunable Stochastic Pulsing in the Escherichia coli Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Network from Interlinked Positive and Negative Feedback Loops

Cells live in uncertain, dynamic environments and have many mechanisms for sensing and responding to changes in their surroundings. However, sudden fluctuations in the environment can be catastrophic to a population if it relies solely on sensory responses, which have a delay associated with them. Cells can reconcile these effects by using a tunable stochastic response, where in the absence of a stressor they create phenotypic diversity within an isogenic population, but use a deterministic response when stressors are sensed. Here, we develop a stochastic model of the multiple antibiotic resistance network of Escherichia coli and show that it can produce tunable stochastic pulses in the activator MarA. In particular, we show that a combination of interlinked positive and negative feedback loops plays an important role in setting the dynamics of the stochastic pulses. Negative feedback produces a pulsatile response that is tunable, while positive feedback serves to amplify the effect. Our simulations show that the uninduced native network is in a parameter regime that is of low cost to the cell (taxing resistance mechanisms are expressed infrequently) and also elevated noise strength (phenotypic variability is high). The stochastic pulsing can be tuned by MarA induction such that variability is decreased once stresses are sensed, avoiding the detrimental effects of noise when an optimal MarA concentration is needed. We further show that variability in the expression of MarA can act as a bet hedging mechanism, allowing for survival in time-varying stress environments, however this effect is tunable to allow for a fully induced, deterministic response in the presence of a stressor.     

Hardware (DNA) circuits

A scheme is presented whereby a new genetic control circuit can be introduced into an organism, permitting the experimenter to turn the expression of a given gene (or set of genes) on or off at will. The proposed scheme involves a positive feedback loop--here, a positive regulator, the CII protein of phage lambda, with its structural gene engineered so as to require CII for its expression. This feedback loop creates the possibility of two stable steady states, with gene cII ON or OFF. Genes added downstream of cII and lacking a promoter will follow the same expression as cII. Two additional circuits allow the experimenter to switch at will between the ON and OFF states.