A tunable, rapid, and precise drug control of protein expression by combining transcriptional and post-translational regulation systems

Li Li; Hongyi Meng; Jianmin Zhang; Yang Liu; Qingjian Zou; Yi Gao; Huaqiang Yang; Liangxue Lai

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2020.07.009

Volume 47 Issue 11

Nov. 2020

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A tunable, rapid, and precise drug control of protein expression by combining transcriptional and post-translational regulation systems

doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2020.07.009

a
Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510282, China
b
CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, South China Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China
c
School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, 529020, China
d
College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

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Corresponding author: E-mail address: wyuchemzqj@126.com (Qingjian Zou); E-mail address: gaoyi6146@163.com (Yi Gao); E-mail address: yangh@scau.edu.cn (Huaqiang Yang); E-mail address: lai_liangxue@gibh.ac.cn (Liangxue Lai)
Publish Date: 2020-11-25

Abstract

Abstract

Rapid, precise, and tunable regulation of protein abundance would be significantly useful in a variety of biotechnologies and biomedical applications. Here, we describe a system that allows tunable and rapid drug control of gene expression for either gene activation or inactivation in mammalian cells. We construct the system by coupling Tet-on 3G and small molecule-assisted shutoff systems, which can respectively induce transcriptional activation and protein degradation in the presence of corresponding small molecules. This dual-input drug inducer regulation system facilitates a bidirectional control of gene expression. The gene of interest can be precisely controlled by dual small molecules in a broad dynamic range of expression from overexpression to complete silence, allowing gene function study in a comprehensive expression profile. Our results reveal that the bidirectional control system enables sensitive dosage- and time-dependent regulation for either turn-on or shutoff of gene expression. We also apply this system for inducible genome editing and gene activation mediated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. The system provides an integrated platform for studying multiple biological processes by manipulating gene expression in a more flexible way.
- Protein abundance,
- Tet-on 3G,
- SMASh,
- Gene expression,
- CRISPR,
- Small molecule

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References(21)

References

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