@phdthesis{Pramanik2023,
  author    = {Pramanik, Shreya},
  title     = {Protein reconstitution in giant vesicles},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-61278},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-612781},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {VIII, 132},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Das Leben auf der Erde ist vielf{\"a}ltig und reicht von einzelligen Organismen bis hin zu mehrzelligen Lebewesen wie dem Menschen. Obwohl es Theorien dar{\"u}ber gibt, wie sich diese Organismen entwickelt haben k{\"o}nnten, verstehen wir nur wenig dar{\"u}ber, wie "Leben" aus Molek{\"u}len entstanden ist. Die synthetische Bottom-up-Biologie zielt darauf ab, minimale Zellen zu schaffen, indem sie verschiedene Module wie Kompartimentierung, Wachstum, Teilung und zellul{\"a}re Kommunikation kombiniert. Alle lebenden Zellen haben eine Membran, die sie von dem sie umgebenden w{\"a}ssrigen Medium trennt und sie sch{\"u}tzt. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus haben alle eukaryotischen Zellen Organellen, die von intrazellul{\"a}ren Membranen umschlossen sind. Jede Zellmembran besteht haupts{\"a}chlich aus einer Lipiddoppelschicht mit Membranproteinen. Lipide sind amphiphile Molek{\"u}le, die molekulare Doppelschichten aus zwei Lipid-Monoschichten oder Bl{\"a}ttchen bilden. Die hydrophoben Ketten der Lipide sind einander zugewandt, w{\"a}hrend ihre hydrophilen Kopfgruppen die Grenzfl{\"a}chen zur w{\"a}ssrigen Umgebung bilden. Riesenvesikel sind Modellmembransysteme, die Kompartimente mit einer Gr{\"o}ße von mehreren Mikrometern bilden und von einer einzigen Lipiddoppelschicht umgeben sind. Die Gr{\"o}ße der Riesenvesikel ist mit der Gr{\"o}ße von Zellen vergleichbar und macht sie zu guten Membranmodellen, die mit einem Lichtmikroskop untersucht werden k{\"o}nnen. Allerdings fehlen den Riesenvesikelmembranen nach der ersten Pr{\"a}paration Membranproteine, die in weiteren Pr{\"a}parationsschritten in diese Membranen eingebaut werden m{\"u}ssen. Je nach Protein kann es entweder {\"u}ber Ankerlipide an eines der Membranbl{\"a}ttchen gebunden oder {\"u}ber seine Transmembrandom{\"a}nen in die Lipiddoppelschicht eingebaut werden. Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit der Herstellung von Riesenvesikeln und der Rekonstitution von Proteinen in diesen Vesikeln. Außerdem wird ein mikrofluidischer Chip entworfen, der in verschiedenen Experimenten verwendet werden kann. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit werden anderen Forschern helfen, die Protokolle f{\"u}r die Herstellung von GUVs zu verstehen, Proteine in GUVs zu rekonstituieren und Experimente mit dem mikrofluidischen Chip durchzuf{\"u}hren. Auf diese Weise wird die vorliegende Arbeit f{\"u}r das langfristige Ziel von Nutzen sein, die verschiedenen Module der synthetischen Biologie zu kombinieren, um eine Minimalzelle zu schaffen.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Demin2022,
  author    = {Demin, Paul},
  title     = {Blaulicht-aktivierbares Proteinexpressionssystem in Saccharomyces cerevisiae},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-55969},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-559696},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {127},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Synthetische Transkriptionsfaktoren bestehen wie nat{\"u}rliche Transkriptionsfaktoren aus einer DNA-Bindedom{\"a}ne, die sich spezifisch an die Bindestellensequenz vor dem Ziel-Gen anlagert, und einer Aktivierungsdom{\"a}ne, die die Transkriptionsmaschinerie rekrutiert, sodass das Zielgen exprimiert wird. Der Unterschied zu den nat{\"u}rlichen Transkriptionsfaktoren ist, sowohl dass die DNA-Bindedom{\"a}ne als auch die Aktivierungsdom{\"a}ne wirtsfremd sein k{\"o}nnen und dadurch k{\"u}nstliche Stoffwechselwege im Wirt, gr{\"o}ßtenteils chemisch, induziert werden k{\"o}nnen. Optogenetische synthetische Transkriptionsfaktoren, die hier entwickelt wurden, gehen einen Schritt weiter. Dabei ist die DNA-Bindedom{\"a}ne nicht mehr an die Aktivierungsdom{\"a}ne, sondern mit dem Blaulicht-Photorezeptor CRY2 gekoppelt. Die Aktivierungsdom{\"a}ne wurde mit dem Interaktionspartner CIB1 fusioniert. Unter Blaulichtbestrahlung dimerisieren CRY2 und CIB1 und damit einhergehend die beiden Dom{\"a}nen, sodass ein funktionsf{\"a}higer Transkriptionsfaktor entsteht. Dieses System wurde in die Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomisch integriert. Verifiziert wurde das konstruierte System mit Hilfe des Reporters yEGFP, welcher durchflusszytometrisch detektiert werden konnte. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die yEGFP Expression variabel gestaltet werden kann, indem unterschiedlich lange Blaulichtimpulse ausgesendet wurden, die DNA-Bindedom{\"a}ne, die Aktivierungsdom{\"a}ne oder die Anzahl der Bindestellen, an dem sich die DNA-Bindedom{\"a}ne anlagert, ver{\"a}ndert wurden. Um das System f{\"u}r industrielle Anwendungen attraktiv zu gestalten, wurde das System vom Deepwell-Maßstab auf Photobioreaktor-Maßstab hochskaliert. Außerdem erwies sich das Blaulichtsystem sowohl im Laborstamm YPH500 als auch im industriell oft verwendeten Hefestamm CEN.PK als funktional. Des Weiteren konnte ein industrierelevante Protein ebenso mit Hilfe des verifizierten Systems exprimiert werden. Schlussendlich konnte in dieser Arbeit das etablierte Blaulicht-System erfolgreich mit einem Rotlichtsystem kombiniert werden, was zuvor noch nicht beschrieben wurde.},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{ChandrakanthShetty2021,
  author    = {Chandrakanth Shetty, Sunidhi},
  title     = {Directed chemical communication in artificial eukaryotic cells},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-53364},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-533642},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Eukaryotic cells can be regarded as complex microreactors capable of performing various biochemical reactions in parallel which are necessary to sustain life. An essential prerequisite for these complex metabolic reactions to occur is the evolution of lipid membrane-bound organelles enabling compartmental- ization of reactions and biomolecules. This allows for a spatiotemporal control over the metabolic reactions within the cellular system. Intracellular organi- zation arising due to compartmentalization is a key feature of all living cells and has inspired synthetic biologists to engineer such systems with bottom-up approaches. Artificial cells provide an ideal platform to isolate and study specific re- actions without the interference from the complex network of biomolecules present in biological cells. To mimic the hierarchical architecture of eukaryotic cells, multi-compartment assemblies with nested liposomal structures also re- ferred to as multi-vesicular vesicles (MVVs) have been widely adopted. Most of the previously reported multi-compartment systems adopt bulk method- ologies which suffer from low yield and poor control over size. Microfluidic strategies help circumvent these issues and facilitate a high-throughput and robust technique to assemble MVVs of uniform size distribution. In this thesis, firstly, the bulk methodologies are explored to build MVVs and implement a synthetic signalling cascade. Next, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic platform is introduced to build MVVs and the significance of PEGylated lipids for the successful encapsulation of inner com- partments to generate stable multi-compartment systems is highlighted. Next, a novel two-inlet channel PDMS-based microfluidic device to create MVVs encompassing a three-step enzymatic reaction cascade is presented. A directed reaction pathway comprising of the enzymes α-glucosidase (α-Glc), glucose oxidase (GOx), and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) spanning across three compartments via reconstitution of size-selective membrane proteins is described. Furthermore, owing to the monodispersity of our MVVs due to microfluidic strategies, this platform is employed to study the effect of com- partmentalization on reaction kinetics. Further integration of cell-free expression module into the MVVs would allow for gene-mediated signal transduction within artificial eukaryotic cells. Therefore, the chemically inducible cell-free expression of a membrane protein alpha-hemolysin and its further reconstitution into liposomes is carried out. In conclusion, the present thesis aims to build artificial eukaryotic cells to achieve size-selective chemical communication that also show potential for applications as micro reactors and as vehicles for drug delivery.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kirchhofer2021,
  author    = {Kirchhofer, Tabea},
  title     = {The development of multi - compartmentalised systems for the directed organisation of artificial cells},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-52842},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-528428},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {II, 126},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Membrane contact sites are of particular interest in the field of synthetic biology and biophysics. They are involved in a great variety of cellular functions. They form in between two cellular organelles or an organelle and the plasma membrane in order to establish a communication path for molecule transport or signal transmission. The development of an artificial membrane system which can mimic membrane contact sites using bottom up synthetic biology was the goal of this research study. For this, a multi - compartmentalised giant unilamellar vesicle (GUV) system was created with the membrane of the outer vesicle mimicking the plasma membrane and the inner GUVs posing as cellular organelles. In the following steps, three different strategies were used to achieve an internal membrane - membrane adhesion.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BrechunArndtWoolley2018,
  author    = {Brechun, Katherine Emily and Arndt, Katja Maren and Woolley, G. Andrew},
  title     = {Selection of protein-protein interactions of desired affinities with a bandpass circuit},
  series = {Journal of molecular biology : JMB},
  volume    = {431},
  journal   = {Journal of molecular biology : JMB},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {0022-2836},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jmb.2018.11.011},
  pages     = {391 -- 400},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {We have developed a genetic circuit in Escherichia coli that can be used to select for protein-protein interactions of different strengths by changing antibiotic concentrations in the media. The genetic circuit links protein-protein interaction strength to beta-lactamase activity while simultaneously imposing tuneable positive and negative selection pressure for beta-lactamase activity. Cells only survive if they express interacting proteins with affinities that fall within set high- and low-pass thresholds; i.e. the circuit therefore acts as a bandpass filter for protein-protein interactions. We show that the circuit can be used to recover protein-protein interactions of desired affinity from a mixed population with a range of affinities. The circuit can also be used to select for inhibitors of protein-protein interactions of defined strength. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{delaCruzMachensMesserschmidtetal.2019,
  author    = {de la Cruz, Jorge Gonzalez and Machens, Fabian and Messerschmidt, Katrin and Bar-Even, Arren},
  title     = {Core Catalysis of the Reductive Glycine Pathway Demonstrated in Yeast},
  series = {ACS synthetic biology},
  volume    = {8},
  journal   = {ACS synthetic biology},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {2161-5063},
  doi       = {10.1021/acssynbio.8b00464},
  pages     = {911 -- 917},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {One-carbon (C1) compounds are attractive microbial feedstocks as they can be efficiently produced from widely available resources. Formate, in particular, represents a promising growth substrate, as it can be generated from electrochemical reduction of CO2 and fed to microorganisms in a soluble form. We previously identified the synthetic reductive glycine pathway as the most efficient route for aerobic growth on formate. We further demonstrated pathway activity in Escherichia coli after expression of both native and foreign genes. Here, we explore whether the reductive glycine pathway could be established in a model microorganism using only native enzymes. We used the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as host and show that overexpression of only endogenous enzymes enables glycine biosynthesis from formate and CO2 in a strain that is otherwise auxotrophic for glycine. We find the pathway to be highly active in this host, where 0.125 mM formate is sufficient to support growth. Notably, the formate-dependent growth rate of the engineered S. cerevisiae strain remained roughly constant over a very wide range of formate concentrations, 1-500 mM, indicating both high affinity for formate use and high tolerance toward elevated concentration of this C1 feedstock. Our results, as well the availability of endogenous NAD-dependent formate dehydrogenase, indicate that yeast might be an especially suitable host for engineering growth on formate.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{LukanMachensColletal.2018,
  author    = {Lukan, Tjaša and Machens, Fabian and Coll, Anna and Baebler, Špela and Messerschmidt, Katrin and Gruden, Kristina},
  title     = {Plant X-tender},
  series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  journal   = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  number    = {990},
  issn      = {1866-8372},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-44628},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-446281},
  pages     = {21},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Cloning multiple DNA fragments for delivery of several genes of interest into the plant genome is one of the main technological challenges in plant synthetic biology. Despite several modular assembly methods developed in recent years, the plant biotechnology community has not widely adopted them yet, probably due to the lack of appropriate vectors and software tools. Here we present Plant X-tender, an extension of the highly efficient, scarfree and sequence-independent multigene assembly strategy AssemblX,based on overlapdepended cloning methods and rare-cutting restriction enzymes. Plant X-tender consists of a set of plant expression vectors and the protocols for most efficient cloning into the novel vector set needed for plant expression and thus introduces advantages of AssemblX into plant synthetic biology. The novel vector set covers different backbones and selection markers to allow full design flexibility. We have included ccdB counterselection, thereby allowing the transfer of multigene constructs into the novel vector set in a straightforward and highly efficient way. Vectors are available as empty backbones and are fully flexible regarding the orientation of expression cassettes and addition of linkers between them, if required. We optimised the assembly and subcloning protocol by testing different scar-less assembly approaches: the noncommercial SLiCE and TAR methods and the commercial Gibson assembly and NEBuilder HiFi DNA assembly kits. Plant X-tender was applicable even in combination with low efficient homemade chemically competent or electrocompetent Escherichia coli. We have further validated the developed procedure for plant protein expression by cloning two cassettes into the newly developed vectors and subsequently transferred them to Nicotiana benthamiana in a transient expression setup. Thereby we show that multigene constructs can be delivered into plant cells in a streamlined and highly efficient way. Our results will support faster introduction of synthetic biology into plant science.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{NaseriBalazadehMachensetal.2017,
  author    = {Naseri, Gita and Balazadeh, Salma and Machens, Fabian and Kamranfar, Iman and Messerschmidt, Katrin and M{\"u}ller-R{\"o}ber, Bernd},
  title     = {Plant-Derived Transcription Factors for Orthologous Regulation of Gene Expression in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae},
  series = {ACS synthetic biology},
  volume    = {6},
  journal   = {ACS synthetic biology},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {2161-5063},
  doi       = {10.1021/acssynbio.7b00094},
  pages     = {1742 -- 1756},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Control of gene expression by transcription factors (TFs) is central in many synthetic biology projects for which a tailored expression of one or multiple genes is often needed. As TFs from evolutionary distant organisms are unlikely to affect gene expression in a host of choice, they represent excellent candidates for establishing orthogonal control systems. To establish orthogonal regulators for use in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), we chose TFs from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We established a library of 106 different combinations of chromosomally integrated TFs, activation domains (yeast GAL4 AD, herpes simplex virus VP64, and plant EDLL) and synthetic promoters harboring cognate cis regulatory motifs driving a yEGFP reporter. Transcriptional output of the different driver/reporter combinations varied over a wide spectrum, with EDLL being a considerably stronger transcription activation domain in yeast than the GAL4 activation domain, in particular when fused to Arabidopsis NAC TFs. Notably, the strength of several NAC-EDLL fusions exceeded that of the strong yeast TDH3 promoter by 6- to 10-fold. We furthermore show that plant TFs can be used to build regulatory systems encoded by centromeric or episomal plasmids. Our library of TF-DNA binding site combinations offers an excellent tool for diverse synthetic biology applications in yeast.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{GorochowskiAycilarKucukgozeBovenbergetal.2016,
  author    = {Gorochowski, Thomas E. and Aycilar-Kucukgoze, Irem and Bovenberg, Roel A. L. and Roubos, Johannes A. and Ignatova, Zoya},
  title     = {A Minimal Model of Ribosome Allocation Dynamics Captures Trade-offs in Expression between Endogenous and Synthetic Genes},
  series = {ACS synthetic biology},
  volume    = {5},
  journal   = {ACS synthetic biology},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {2161-5063},
  doi       = {10.1021/acssynbio.6b00040},
  pages     = {710 -- 720},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Cells contain a finite set of resources that must be distributed across many processes to ensure survival. Among them, the largest proportion of cellular resources is dedicated to protein translation. Synthetic biology often exploits these resources in executing orthogonal genetic circuits, yet the burden this places on the cell is rarely considered. Here, we develop a minimal model of ribosome allocation dynamics capturing the demands on translation when expressing a synthetic construct together with endogenous genes required for the maintenance of cell physiology. Critically, it contains three key variables related to design parameters of the synthetic construct covering transcript abundance, translation initiation rate, and elongation time. We show that model-predicted changes in ribosome allocation closely match experimental shifts in synthetic protein expression rate and cellular growth. Intriguingly, the model is also able to accurately infer transcript levels and translation times after further exposure to additional ambient stress. Our results demonstrate that a simple model of resource allocation faithfully captures the redistribution of protein synthesis resources when faced with the burden of synthetic gene expression and environmental stress. The tractable nature of the model makes it a versatile tool for exploring the guiding principles of efficient heterologous expression and the indirect interactions that can arise between synthetic circuits and their host chassis because of competition for shared translational resources.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Naseri2018,
  author    = {Naseri, Gita},
  title     = {Plant-derived transcription factors and their application for synthetic biology approaches in Saccharomyces cerevisiae},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-42151},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-421514},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {187},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Bereits seit 9000 Jahren verwendet die Menschheit die B{\"a}ckerhefe Saccharomyces cerevisiae f{\"u}r das Brauen von Bier, aber erst seit 150 Jahren wissen wir, dass es sich bei diesem unerm{\"u}dlichen Helfer im Brauprozess um einzellige, lebende Organismen handelt. Und die B{\"a}ckerhefe kann noch viel mehr. Im Rahmen des Forschungsgebietes der Synthetischen Biologie soll unter anderem die B{\"a}ckerhefe als innovatives Werkzeug f{\"u}r die biobasierte Herstellung verschiedenster Substanzen etabliert werden. Zu diesen Substanzen z{\"a}hlen unter anderem Feinchemikalien, Biokraftstoffe und Biopolymere sowie pharmakologisch und medizinisch interessante Pflanzenstoffe. Damit diese verschiedensten Substanzen in der B{\"a}ckerhefe hergestellt werden k{\"o}nnen, m{\"u}ssen große Mengen an Produktionsinformationen zum Beispiel aus Pflanzen in die Hefezellen {\"u}bertragen werden. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus m{\"u}ssen die neu eingebrachten Biosynthesewege reguliert und kontrolliert in den Zellen ablaufen. Auch Optimierungsprozesse zur Erh{\"o}hung der Produktivit{\"a}t sind notwendig. F{\"u}r alle diese Arbeitsschritte mangelt es bis heute an anwendungsbereiten Technologien und umfassenden Plattformen. Daher wurden im Rahmen dieser Doktorarbeit verschiedene Technologien und Plattformen zur Informations{\"u}bertragung, Regulation und Prozessoptimierung geplant und erzeugt. F{\"u}r die Konstruktion von Biosynthesewegen in der B{\"a}ckerhefe wurde als erstes eine Plattform aus neuartigen Regulatoren und Kontrollelementen auf der Basis pflanzlicher Kontrollelemente generiert und charakterisiert. Im zweiten Schritt erfolgte die Entwicklung einer Technologie zur kombinatorischen Verwendung der Regulatoren in der Planung und Optimierung von Biosynthesewegen (COMPASS). Abschließend wurde eine Technologie f{\"u}r die Prozessoptimierung der ver{\"a}nderten Hefezellen entwickelt (CapRedit). Die Leistungsf{\"a}higkeit der entwickelten Plattformen und Technologien wurde durch eine Optimierung der Produktion von Carotenoiden (Beta-Carotin und Beta-Ionon) und Flavonoiden (Naringenin) in Hefezellen nachgewiesen. Die im Rahmen der Arbeit etablierten neuartigen Plattformen und innovativen Technologien sind ein wertvoller Grundbaustein f{\"u}r die Erweiterung der Nutzbarkeit der B{\"a}ckerhefe. Sie erm{\"o}glichen den Einsatz der Hefezellen in kosteneffizienten Produktionswegen und alternativen chemischen Wertsch{\"o}pfungsketten. Dadurch k{\"o}nnen zum Beispiel Biokraftstoffe und pharmakologisch interessante Pflanzenstoffe unter Verwendung von nachwachsenden Rohstoffen, Reststoffen und Nebenprodukten hergestellt werden. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus ergeben sich Anwendungsm{\"o}glichkeiten zur Bodensanierung und Wasseraufbereitung.},
  language  = {en}
}