Synthetic Biology

Design of highly functional genome editors by modeling the universe of CRISPR-Cas sequences

1. Jeffrey A. Ruffolo
2. Stephen Nayfach
3. Joseph Gallagher
4. Aadyot Bhatnagar
5. Joel Beazer
6. Riffat Hussain
7. Jordan Russ
8. Jennifer Yip
9. Emily Hill
10. Martin Pacesa
11. Alexander J. Meeske
12. Peter Cameron
13. Ali Madani

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Intracellular Expression of a Fluorogenic DNA Aptamer Using Retron Eco2

1. Mahesh A Vibhute
2. Corbin Machatzke
3. Katrin Bigler
4. Saskia Krümpel
5. Daniel Summerer
6. Hannes Mutschler

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important work introduces a method to express fluorogenic DNA aptamers in E. coli, paving the way for genetically encoded fluorescent DNA. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid, consisting of comparisons of the aptamer's activity in vitro and within bacterial cells. This advancement described in this study is likely to become a standard technique in the DNA aptamer field, and the work will be of interest and utility to researchers in synthetic biology, molecular imaging, and bacterial genetics fields.

Reviewed by eLife

Targeted protein degradation systems to enhance Wnt signaling

1. Parthasarathy Sampathkumar
2. Heekyung Jung
3. Hui Chen
4. Zhengjian Zhang
5. Nicholas Suen
6. Yiran Yang
7. Zhong Huang
8. Tom Lopez
9. Robert Benisch
10. Sung-Jin Lee
11. Jay Ye
12. Wen-Chen Yeh
13. Yang Li

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The manuscript describes a valuable method to boost WNT signaling in a tissue-specific manner. The work extends previous data from the authors based on fusing an RSPO2 mutant protein to an antibody that binds ASGR1/2. In the current manuscript, two new antibodies with similar effects are described, that expand this solid approach and provide alternatives for potential future clinical applications. This manuscript will be of interest to all scientists studying protein engineering and cellular targeting.

Reviewed by eLife

Highly multiplexed design of an allosteric transcription factor to sense novel ligands

1. Kyle K. Nishikawa
2. Jackie Chen
3. Justin F. Acheson
4. Svetlana V. Harbaugh
5. Phil Huss
6. Max Frenkel
7. Nathan Novy
8. Hailey R. Sieren
9. Ella C. Lodewyk
10. Daniel H. Lee
11. Jorge L. Chávez
12. Brian G. Fox
13. Srivatsan Raman

Reviewed by PREreview

Specific modulation of CRISPR transcriptional activators through RNA-sensing guide RNAs in mammalian cells and zebrafish embryos

1. Oana Pelea
2. Sarah Mayes
3. Quentin RV Ferry
4. Tudor A Fulga
5. Tatjana Sauka-Spengler

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors aim to develop a CRISPR system that can be activated upon sensing an RNA. As an initial step to this goal, they describe RNA-sensing guide RNAs for controlled activation of CRISPR modification. Many of the data look convincing and while several steps remain to achieve the stated goal in an in vivo setting and for robust activation by endogenous RNAs, the current work will be important for many in the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Synthetic bacteria with programmed cell targeting and protein injection suppress tumor growth in vivo

1. Alejandro Asensio-Calavia
2. Carmen Mañas
3. Alba Cabrera-Fisac
4. Eva Pico-Sánchez
5. Elena M. Seco
6. Starsha Kolodziej
7. Daniel S. Leventhal
8. José M. Lora
9. Beatriz Álvarez
10. Luis Ángel Fernández

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

A conserved phenylalanine motif among teleost fish provides insight for improving electromagnetic perception

1. Brianna Ricker
2. E. Alejandro Castellanos Franco
3. Gustavo de los Campos
4. Galit Pelled
5. Assaf A. Gilad

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Design and construction towards a pan-microbial toolkit

1. Charlie Gilbert
2. Alexander Crits-Christoph
3. Elise Ledieu-Dherbécourt
4. Shinyoung Clair Kang
5. Stephanie L. Brumwell
6. Henry H. Lee
7. Nili Ostrov

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Autotrophic growth of Escherichia coli is achieved by a small number of genetic changes

1. Roee Ben Nissan
2. Eliya Milshtein
3. Vanessa Pahl
4. Benoit de Pins
5. Ghil Jona
6. Dikla Levi
7. Hadas Yung
8. Noga Nir
9. Dolev Ezra
10. Shmuel Gleizer
11. Hannes Link
12. Elad Noor
13. Ron Milo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is an important follow-up study to a previous paper in which the authors reconstituted CO2 metabolism (autotrophy) in Escherichia coli. Here, the authors define a set of just three mutations that promote autotrophy, highlighting the malleability of E. coli metabolism. The authors make a convincing case that mutations in pgi are loss-of-function mutations that prevent metabolic efflux from the reductive pentose phosphate autocatalytic cycle, and their data suggest possible roles of mutations in two other genes - crp and rpoB. This research will be particularly interesting to synthetic biologists, systems biologists, and metabolic engineers aiming to develop synthetic autotrophic microorganisms.

Reviewed by eLife

Repurposing the mammalian RNA-binding protein Musashi-1 as an allosteric translation repressor in bacteria

1. Roswitha Dolcemascolo
2. María Heras-Hernández
3. Lucas Goiriz
4. Roser Montagud-Martínez
5. Alejandro Requena-Menéndez
6. Raúl Ruiz
7. Anna Pérez-Ràfols
8. R Anahí Higuera-Rodríguez
9. Guillermo Pérez-Ropero
10. Wim F Vranken
11. Tommaso Martelli
12. Wolfgang Kaiser
13. Jos Buijs
14. Guillermo Rodrigo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study demonstrates the use of the mammalian Musashi-1 (MSI-1) RNA-binding protein as a tool for regulating gene expression in Escherichia coli. The authors provide convincing evidence that MSI-1 functions as an effective repressor of translation, and that MSI-1 can be allosterically controlled by oleic acid. This work establishes MSI-1 as a potential tool for synthetic biology applications, and the system developed here can be used for mechanistic studies of MSI-1.

Reviewed by eLife