Overview

In synthetic biology, everything is about genetic circuits and biological information processing. For CATE we specifically designed a circuit, able to integrate signals from the outside and the inside. It features two safety checkpoints to ensure superiority in terms of off-target damage and controllability if compared to conventional cancer treatment strategies.

The genetic parts are located on two plasmids, the actuator plasmid and the regulator plasmid. On the regulator plasmid, genes used for control of the behavior are located. These include LuxR, lldP and lldR (all part of Tumor Sensor) and TlpA (Heat Sensor). Being combined in an operon on a single plasmid, it makes it easy to manipulate coding regions and fine-tune the gene expression level. The actuator plasmid contains genes for the actions CATE can take. The genes for bacterioferritin (MRI Contrast Agent), azurin (Anti-Cancer Toxin) and protein E (Cell Lysis) are located on this plasmid. Additionally, due to the function of the quorum sensing (part of Tumor Sensor), also the gene for LuxI is on the actuator plasmid. In general, the regulator plasmid contains the sensors to integrate inputs from the outside world, whereas the actuator plasmid produces molecules that act on the environment.

description of the genetic procedure