Biosensing (IRES, FQ)
Made with Benchling
Project: iGEM 2016
Authors: Michael Becich, Julia Gross, Amy Weissenbach
Dates: 2016-06-24 to 2016-10-03
Friday, 6/24
-Transformed NEB5a cells with BBa_E0040, the GFP plasmid to use as the backbone for the IRES construct (Julia + Amy)
Monday, 6/27
-GFP plates had no colonies. Realized we had the wrong antibiotic, so we re-plated with the correct plates. (Julia + Amy)
Tuesday, 6/28
-Checked GFP plates, they had non fluorescent colonies on them. (Julia + Amy)
-Debugging Heidelberg MAWS Software Issues
-Designing Initial Fluorophore-Quencher Aptamer System
-Intramolecular quenching with PEG linker? Fluorophore on 5' end, Quencher on 3' end
-Tau Day--Considering Biosignatures (ATP)/Toxins (Pb 2+)/Minerals for Biomining to sense
-Pivoting to other systems: Quantum Dots, Augmenting Atomic Force Microscopy, Mechanisms of attachment
Wednesday, 6/29
-Did colony PCR on colonies from the GFP plates, and ran the products on a gel confirming that they had transformed with the correct insert.
-Ordered primers for linearizing the GFP backbone with ends compatible with Gibson assembly of the IRES construct.
-Started liquid cultures of GFP colonies, and of the Heidelberg BioBricks that came in today: BBa_K1614019, BBa_K1614002, and BBa_K1614016. (Julia + Amy)
-Plan to talk with Christina Smolke for ideas about aptamer applications and members of Stanley Qi's Lab for mechanisms of attachment (dCas9, Gal4/UAS)
Thursday, 6/30
-Cryostocked the Heidelberg BioBricks, as well as the GFP colonies.
-Minipreped both the Heidelberg BioBricks and the GFP plasmids.
-PCR amplified the GFP plasmids with the primers that have IRES overhangs, in preparation for doing a Gibson assembly of the IRES fragment into the GFP backbone. (Julia + Amy)
Friday, 7/1
-Planned FQ Constructs too expensive--> Need to pivot to cheaper, 2-piece system
-Use freeze-drying as a positive control for testing attachment of biosensors
-Discussed idea of BioFoundry
Tuesday, 7/5
-Flexible linkers (GGSGGS) superior to rigid ones
-Engineered cheaper solution to FQ design using 2 oligonucleotides rather than 1 (drawback--sensor must be in solution initially for mass action)
Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1046202305001039
Wednesday, 7/6
-Linearized GFP plasmid with forward and reverse IRES overlap primers through PCR. (JLG/AW)
-FQ Design tradeoff=sterically decreasing non-specific interactions vs. flexibility/separation
-Don't use high GC content
-A/T are susceptible to UV radiation
-No Guanine Quadruplexes
Thursday, 7/7
-Previous GFP plasmid linearizing PCR failed, tried again with a higher annealing temp and using Q5 instead of One-Taq (TP/AW)
-Dilution Assay with 5' Biotin Fluorescein to guage brightness of fluorophores-->how will our sensing platform be sensed once glowing?
-Detectable at mM with naked eye, uM-nM with fluorometers
-Idea: denature aptamer once bound to recover target in as high of a concentration possible, measure with Nanodrop
Friday, 7/8
IRES
●
Higher annealing PCR of 7/7 was successful: 394ng/ul of fairly pure DNA. Ran the product out on a gel, and observed a large band at 3kb, with two smaller bands further forward (probably primer-dimer/non specific amplification). Cut the 3kb band out, and ran it through the Epoch gel extraction kit according to manufacturer instructions. The extraction kit did not work (yield was 6ng/ul of highly impure DNA). Set up new linearizing PCR with the same DNA, primers, Q5, and thermocycler settings as 7/7. (JLG/AW)
FQ Sensors
●
Tested various concentrations of ATP (100mM - .001nM) on the spectrophotometer. Determined that at concentrations that low, comparing absorption spectra was not a viable way to distinguish between different concentrations. Decided as a result to order the fluorescently labeled ATP DNA aptamer construct, rather than ordering ATP aptamer alone and attempting to gauge efficacy via comparing before and after incubation ATP concentrations.
●
Put in the order for biotin-ATP aptamer-flourophore oligo, and hybridizing sequence-quencher oligo, both of which should arrive on 7/12. (MB)
-Consider radio-labeled ATP to differentiate (cheaper assays include dNTP's vs. NTP's)
-Preliminary Plate Layout for 1:1 Fluorophore-Quencher Ratio (1:1 biotinylated fluorophore to Streptavidin-coated plate)
Monday, 7/11
-IRES linearizing PCR of 7/8 was successful. Preformed PCR extraction on the results, . Preformed Gibson assembly with the backbone, and the linearized construct. Transformed the Gibson plasmids into NE5a chemical competent E. coli cells, plated at 1:10 and 1:100 dilution factors on Amp plates. (AW/JLG)
Tuesday, 7/12
●
1..5uL of Plasmids obtained from Dave Dingal/Tony Gao of Stanley Qi Lab for possible attachment mechanisms:
○
pSLQ3604 --> pcDNA3-hNECD1-Gal4
○
pSLQ3829--> pEV-UAS-hNECD-dCas9-VPR
Wednesday, 7/13
●
When oligo's arrive, suspend both to 100 uM Stock
●
Prepare Wash Buffer: Tris-Buffered Saline (25mM Tris, 150 mM NaCL) and 0.1% BSA, 0.05% Tween -20
●
Adjusted concentration of biotinylated FQ to 10 ug/mL in wash buffer
●
Excitation/Emission 495/520 for FAM-6
Thursday, 7/14
●
Prepare 5x SSCT, 2x SSCT, and PBST Buffers according to https://tools.thermofisher.com/content/sfs/manuals/MAN0011250_Pierce_StreptavidinCoat_96Well_UG.pdf, https://www.thermofisher.co.nz/Uploads/file/Scientific/Applications/Lab-Plasticware-Glassware-Supplies/Thermo-Scientific-Nunc-Immobilizer-Streptavidin-Application-example-PCR-ELISA.PDF (ELISA Protocol Nunc immbolizer)
●
Wash wells 3-times with 5x SSCT Buffer
Friday, 7/15
●
Dilute fluorophore and quencher to 100uM in EB
●
Dilute to 2 uM Stocks in 5x SSCT
●
Add 100uL to each well: https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/content/dam/sigma-aldrich/docs/Sigma/Bulletin/s6940bul.pdf
●
Incubate for 1 hour (room temp/shaking/dark) to let binding of biotin/streptavidin to occur and let F/Q hybridize
●
Add ATP gradually and measure fluorescence over time period
Monday, 7/18
●
Strong signal observed in solution. Focus on proof of concept for first iteration
●
Weak signal for wells that are not attached-->troubleshoot?
●
Test different buffers? F/Q combinations? Incubation times?
●
Signal spike seems to be instantaneous, so how to better measure live?
Tuesday, 7/19
●
Results from first FQ fluorescence measurements inconclusive.
●
Back to drawing board. Rather than simulating ELISA conditions, research better conditions for FQ System: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.200501214/full, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1046202305001039
Wednesday, 7/20
●
Refined experiment included a hybridization buffer (Tris, NaH2PO4, Na2HPO4) to first let F and Q bind.
●
Crucial improvement was 1x Rxn Buffer for ATP sensing (300mM NaCl, 5mM MgCl2, 25mM HEPES)
●
Concession--must accept 30 second delay between introduction of ATP and Plate Reader (limited by equipment imaging capabilities)
Thursday, 7/21
FQ Sensor
●
ATP vs. GTP focused study (triplicate of wells)
●
Performed stepwise concentration plate reader assay to confirm fluorophore-quencher system
○
Incubated 20nM fluorophore and 20nM quencher in hybridization buffer for 1 hour at room temp. with gentle agitation
○
Took 11 readings across 5 minute intervals, gradually increasing ATP/NTP concentration according to (limited by stocks of NTP's):
●
Troubleshooting: Photobleaching, Further Buffer Optimization, Attached Sensor Still not as successful-->how to capture inital jump?
Friday, 7/22
FQ Sensor
●
Analyzed Fluorescent Plate Reader Data for Sensing Capabilities (observed 9-fold change in fluorescence at 30mM and linear trend with ATP target concentration)--Confirms Literature
●
Reperformed assay with dATP, dGTP, ATP, GTP
●
Attempt to video tape fluoresence peak as added
Sunday, 7/24
●
Video unsuccessful
●
Contacted author Yingfu Li on responsiveness of aptamer signaling in nanoengine paper to get insights on other imaging techniques
Tuesday, 7/26
●
Design a more useful FQ Assay-->Utilize plate reader at Stanford that can measure at certain heights in well
Friday, 7/29
●
Use two identical plates (one Streptavidin-coated)
●
Achieve following concentrations in each well: 1 uL F, 1 uL Q in 2x SSCT buffer
●
Incubate gently while configuring plate reader to optimal fluorescence settings (Gain=65, Height=6.50mm), readjusted before each round of measurment
●
Took baseline at 12:50pm and every 5 minutes recorded fluorescence. NTP was added to each well to appropriately achieved 10-fold serial dilutions from 1 mM to 1 nM (target total volume=150uL)
●
Inconclusive results were achieved for both the attached and unattached variations.
●
Next steps: troubleshoot binding with ITC, fix buffers (1x rxn buffer has lower signal, but better performance)
Saturday, 7/30
●
Considerations for Biosensing: FQ Improvement, IRES Characerizaion, SELEX for Perchlorate/p-ABA Aptamer pool enrichment, PQQ DNAzyme
●
Building a biodevice for better characterization of FQ Activity:
Thursday, 8/4
●
FQ Final Validation:
1.
92 uL Rxn Buffer + 4 uL F/ 4 uLQ (1:1 F:Q)
2.
92 uL Hybridization Buffer + 4 uL F/ 4 uLQ (1:1 F:Q)
3.
94 uL Rxn Buffer + 2 uL F/ 4 uLQ (1:2 F:Q)
4.
94 uL Hybridization Buffer + 2 uL F/ 4 uLQ (1:2 F:Q)
●
Incubate for 2 hours.
●
Pipette into plates and dilute with 100uL 2x Rxn Buffer
●
Incubate in plate gentl shaking for 30 minutes before preparing to image
●
Settings (Height=6.25mm, Gain=70)
●
Stepwise increase of ATP/GTP/dATP/dGTP concentrations
○
1.5 uL of 1 mM, 15uL of 1 mM, 1.5 u of 100mM, 15uL of 100mM, 15uL of 100mM, 15uL of 100mM, 15uL of 100mM (*ran out in some trials)
Final Data:
Thursday, 9/22
●
Took extracted CBD-Streptavidin Part (purified earlier in August/September by Julia) and incubated (shaking, room temp, 2 hours) in 2x B&W Buffer with equimolar amounts of biotinylated fluorophore-quencher
○
1190ng/uL starting concentration, 100uM Biotinylated Fluorophore and Quencher (Recipe: 100 uL Protein, 31.7 uL Fluorophore)
●
Pipetted 25 uL onto 9 wax-based wells on cellulose filter paper. Let sit over night (CBD takes 2-3 days to set in)
Friday, 9/23
●
Re-imaged Plate on reader and Typhoon scanner (Abmax 495 nm Emmax 520 nm) with Trevor's help
●
Took picture with iPhone under gel scanner
Monday, 9/26
●
(Stanford School resumes)
●
Imaged in morning
●
Washed each square with 5x 1mL MilliQ Water (w/ 1mM ATP)
●
Imaged again on Typhoon Scanner and took picture:
Tuesday, 9/27
●
Washed again 5x 1mL MilliQ Water (w/ 1mM ATP) and re-imaged
Friday, 9/30
Low signal traces were still apparent on day after 4 washes
Monday, 10/3
After repeating wash each morning for a week, the signal had all but disappeard from even the experimental square: