Team:MIT

• BACKGROUND
• EXPERIMENTS
  Synthetic Promoters microRNA Recombinase Proof of Concept Collaborations
• FUTURE WORK
  Circuit Design Clinical Applications
• HUMAN PRACTICES
  Parts Toolbox Accessible Protocols Integrated Human Practices Public Outreach Interlab Study
• NOTEBOOK
  Lab Notebook Parts Mammalian Parts Collection Attributions Safety
• AWARDS
  HP Silver HP Gold Integrated HP Basic Part
• TEAM

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  Read more about endometriosis
  
  

This diagnostic process can be expedited by using the following synthetic biological tools to sense molecular markers in endometrial biopsy samples.

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  Respond to malfunctioning of hormone sensing in endometriosis
  
  
  
  
  Read more
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  Identify cells in disease state through dysregulated miRNA activity
  
  
  
  
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  Give the circuit a form of memory through a biological latch system
  
  
  
  
  Read more



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  Explore how our sensors interact logically by transfecting 4 to 5-unit genetic circuits into model cell cultures
  
  
  
  
  
  Read more

We've successfully created new, hormone-inducible mammalian promoters,
characterized a miRNA sensing platform in TERT-immortalized human endometrial stromal cells (tHESC) culture under varying estrogen conditions,
and tested the functionality of a serine integrase (TP901) in a mammalian line as a biological latch.

We've spent a long time visualizing how these tools could be used in the long term to help patients with endometriosis.

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  We worked with experts in endometriosis to lay out a basic clinical plan,
  designed a possible full circuit using our synthetic biological parts,
  and collaborated with the BU Hardware team to test and confirm that mammalian cells can grow in a microfluidics device.
  
  
  
  
  Read more about the future applications of our work

Genetic circuit to sense endometriosis

Some of our team's achievements this year include:

1. Developed novel estrogen and progesterone inducible synthetic mammalian promoters through bottom-up promoter engineering. These constructs could resolve the changes in estrogen and progesterone signaling characteristic of endometriosis


2. Characterized the functionality of a miRNA sensing platform in TERT immortalized human endometrial stromal cells (tHESC). We are one of the first to characterize changes in miRNA activity in the cell line with and without estrogen.


3. Characterized the functionality of a serine integrase (TP901) in a mammalian cell line. Recombinases like TP901 downstream of a tunable L7Ae - kturn system that we implemented could help process input from our estrogen, progesterone, and miRNA sensors and adjust output as per a patient's needs.


4. Transfected larger 4 to 5 transcriptional unit genetic circuits that cascaded our devices together in order to explore how our sensors interact with one another.






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