The OUTCASST two-component system
This year, Utrecht University participates in the iGEM for the first time. We aim to create a cheap DNA detection kit for disease diagnosis that is easy to use and does not rely on complicated sequencing technologies.
The problem
Disease diagnosis is of great importance for healthcare. In developing countries, diagnoses often have to be made based on limited information, even though accurate disease determination based on pathogen specific DNA sequences is possible through sequencing technologies. These technologies, however, require specialised equipment and expertise that simply is not available everywhere. The OUTCASST two-component system and detection kit hopes to alleviate this problem.
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The system
The OUTCASST two-component system consists of two proteins, expressed to the membrane of a dryable cell. One of the proteins is a Cas9-fusion and the other contains Cpf1. Both proteins can be given a guide RNA that makes it bind to a specific, user-chosen, complementary sequence. When both proteins bind a DNA fragment from a sample, they co-localize, so that a transcription factor is released intracellularly which then induces an intracellular reporter mechanism such as a dye or fluorescent signal.
Protease cleaves, transcription factor is released from complex.
