Team:McMaster II/Quorum Sensing
Quorum Sensing
Quorum sensing is a bacterial gene expression system that is correlated to population density. Transmission of information is dependent on autoinducers, the signalling molecules whose production and accumulation is directly proportional to cell density. This system utilizes a positive feedback loop, as the bacterial response to autoinducer detection is to produce and release additional autoinducers. Through this mechanism, the entire bacterial population can respond in sync to external stimuli. For the purposes of this project, the molecule C12 will be used for both its quorum-sensing and tumor-killing abilities. C12 belongs to the class of autoinducers called acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs). This membrane soluble molecule is responsible for population-wide transcriptional regulation of bacterial movement, biofilm production, and other homeostatic functions. Its quorum sensing properties also allow it to detect and control its own growth in response to stimuli like the tumour microenvironment (TME). A second property of C12 is its ability to inhibit tumour growth. It triggers tumour-death in a PON2 dependent system. This bacteria-based system provides higher specificity when compared to the widely used yet highly-conserved Bcl-2/caspase apoptotic pathway.
