Design and Implementation of a Biomolecular Concentration Tracker.
Journal: Hsiao V, de Los Santos EL, Whitaker WR, Dueber JE, Murray RM , (). Design and Implementation of a Biomolecular Concentration Tracker. ACS Synth Biol . ,
Abstract:As a field, synthetic biology strives to engineer increasingly complex artificial systems in living cells. Active feedback in closed loop systems offers a dynamic and adaptive way to ensure constant relative activity independent of intrinsic and extrinsic noise. In this work, we use synthetic protein scaffolds as a modular and tunable mechanism for concentration tracking through negative feedback. Input to the circuit initiates scaffold production, leading to colocalization of a two-component system and resulting in the production of an inhibitory antiscaffold protein. Using a combination of modeling and experimental work, we show that the biomolecular concentration tracker circuit achieves dynamic protein concentration tracking in Escherichia coli and that steady state outputs can be tuned.