Engineering allosteric transcription factors guided by the LacI topology

Ashley N Hersey; Valerie E Kay; Sumin Lee; Matthew J Realff; Corey J Wilson

doi:10.1016/j.cels.2023.04.008

Engineering allosteric transcription factors guided by the LacI topology

Cell Syst. 2023 Aug 16;14(8):645-655. doi: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.04.008.

Authors

Ashley N Hersey¹, Valerie E Kay¹, Sumin Lee¹, Matthew J Realff¹, Corey J Wilson²

Affiliations

¹ Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Atlanta, GA, USA.
² Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: corey.wilson@chbe.gatech.edu.

PMID: 37591203
DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.04.008

Abstract

Allosteric transcription factors (aTFs) are used in a myriad of processes throughout biology and biotechnology. aTFs have served as the workhorses for developments in synthetic biology, fundamental research, and protein manufacturing. One of the most utilized TFs is the lactose repressor (LacI). In addition to being an exceptional tool for gene regulation, LacI has also served as an outstanding model system for understanding allosteric communication. In this perspective, we will use the LacI TF as the principal exemplar for engineering alternate functions related to allostery-i.e., alternate protein DNA interactions, alternate protein-ligand interactions, and alternate phenotypic mechanisms. In addition, we will summarize the design rules and heuristics for each design goal and demonstrate how the resulting design rules and heuristics can be extrapolated to engineer other aTFs with a similar topology-i.e., from the broader LacI/GalR family of TFs.

Keywords: LacI; LacI/GalR family; allosteric transcription factors; lactose repressor; protein design rules.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Biotechnology*
Communication
Engineering
Models, Biological
Transcription Factors* / genetics

Substances

Transcription Factors