Design of artificial cell-cell communication using gene and metabolic networks

Artificial transcriptional networks have been used to achieve novel, nonnative behavior in bacteria. Typically, these artificial circuits are isolated from cellular metabolism and are designed to function without intercellular communication. To attain concerted biological behavior in a population, synchronization through intercellular communication is highly desirable. Here we demonstrate the design and construction of a gene-metabolic circuit that uses a common metabolite to achieve tunable artificial cell-cell communication. This circuit uses a threshold concentration of acetate to induce gene expression by acetate kinase and part of the nitrogen-regulation two-component system. As one application of the cell-cell communication circuit we created an artificial quorum sensor. Engineering of carbon metabolism in Escherichia coli made acetate secretion proportional to cell density and independent of oxygen availability. In these cells the circuit induced gene expression in response to a threshold cell density. This threshold can be tuned effectively by controlling DeltapH over the cell membrane, which determines the partition of acetate between medium and cells. Mutagenesis of the enhancer sequence of the glnAp2 promoter produced variants of the circuit with changed sensitivity demonstrating tunability of the circuit by engineering of its components. The behavior of the circuit shows remarkable predictability based on a mathematical design model.