Synthetic biology-inspired cell engineering in diagnosis, treatment, and drug development

Ninglin Zhao; Yingjie Song; Xiangqian Xie; Ziqi Zhu; Chenxi Duan; Cheng Nong; Huan Wang; Rui Bao

doi:10.1038/s41392-023-01375-x

Synthetic biology-inspired cell engineering in diagnosis, treatment, and drug development

Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2023 Mar 11;8(1):112. doi: 10.1038/s41392-023-01375-x.

Authors

Ninglin Zhao^#¹, Yingjie Song^#², Xiangqian Xie^#³, Ziqi Zhu¹, Chenxi Duan¹, Cheng Nong¹, Huan Wang⁴, Rui Bao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Center of Infectious Diseases, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² College of Life Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center of Nanjing University, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center of Nanjing University, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. wanghuan@nju.edu.cn.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Center of Infectious Diseases, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. baorui@scu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The fast-developing synthetic biology (SB) has provided many genetic tools to reprogram and engineer cells for improved performance, novel functions, and diverse applications. Such cell engineering resources can play a critical role in the research and development of novel therapeutics. However, there are certain limitations and challenges in applying genetically engineered cells in clinical practice. This literature review updates the recent advances in biomedical applications, including diagnosis, treatment, and drug development, of SB-inspired cell engineering. It describes technologies and relevant examples in a clinical and experimental setup that may significantly impact the biomedicine field. At last, this review concludes the results with future directions to optimize the performances of synthetic gene circuits to regulate the therapeutic activities of cell-based tools in specific diseases.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cell Engineering*
Drug Development*
Synthetic Biology / methods