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| | <span class="text-muted">Synthetic Biology Approach</span> | | <span class="text-muted">Synthetic Biology Approach</span> |
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| − | <p class="lead">A cornerstone in synthetic biology is the connection of distinct biological functions to create useful system | + | <p class="lead"></p> |
| − | level behavior. We can take advantage of how bacteria naturally localize in tumors and mass produce products, invade cells,
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| − | and release the products directly into the cells. This allows easily-degraded
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| − | compounds to be effectively delivered and prevents these compounds from affecting healthy
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| − | cells. The combination of these mechanisms creates a powerful, cancer-specific circuit for gene therapy.</p>
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| − | <div class="featurette" id="services">
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| − | <img class="featurette-image img-circle img-responsive pull-left" src="http://placehold.it/500x500">
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| − | <h3 class="featurette-heading">Expanding the Possibilities of
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| − | <span class="text-muted">Gene Therapy</span>
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| − | </h3>
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| − | <p >Anticipating the applications of synthetic biology to healthcare, we devised a therapeutic
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| − | approach to modulate mammalian gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Recombinant E. coli with
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| − | the capacity to invade mammalian cells will deliver an shRNA payload against an aberrantly expressed gene,
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| − | for example an oncogene in cancer or proinflammatory cytokine in inflammation, to the host cytoplasm. This
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| − | shRNA payload will then inhibit protein function, which can combat mutations that confer resistance to traditional
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| − | therapies, as with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors gefitinib and imatinib. </p>
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| − | </div>
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| − | <div class="featurette" id="contact">
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| − | <img class="featurette-image img-circle img-responsive pull-right" src="http://placehold.it/500x500">
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| − | <h3 class="featurette-heading">The Future
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| − | <span class="text-muted">Outlook</span>
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| − | </h3>
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| − | <p class="lead">Our mechanism to modulate mammalian gene expression can have a variety of applications, extending throughout
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| − | as well beyond healthcare. The engineered bacteria would have a significant application to human health particularly
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| − | in conditions characterized by aberrant gene expression, such as with oncogenes in cancer, cytokines in inflammation,
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| − | and many others. For cancer applications, the engineered bacteria can be taken as an oral probiotic, which
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| − | will then selectively localize in tumor cells to prove gene therapy.</p>
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| − | </div>
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| | </div> | | </div> |
