Synthetic Biology and Personalized Medicine

Jain, K.K.

Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides that can bind to a given ligand with high affinity and specificity due to their particular 3D structure. Aptamer-binding proteins are versatile and powerful building blocks for the construction of artificial genetic switches. An aptamer-based construct regulating the Tet Off system in a tetracycline-independent manner has been shown to achieve control of transgene expression [19] . TetR protein-inhibiting aptamer enables the RNA-responsive control of the tetracycline-dependent transactivator (tTA). By attaching the theophylline aptamer as a sensor, the inhibitory TetR aptamer and thus tTA activity became dependent on the ligand of the sensor aptamer. Aptamer-based control of the widely used Tet system introduces a new layer of regulation to facilitate the construction of more complex gene networks. It could also be used as a safeguard for regulation of gene expression in microencapsulated cell implants.