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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Automated Robotic Liquid Handling Assembly of Modular DNA Devices

Automated Robotic Liquid Handling Assembly of Modular DNA Devices

Published on: December 1, 2017

Engineering modular intracellular protein sensor-actuator devices.

Velia Siciliano^1,2, Breanna DiAndreth³, Blandine Monel^4,5

¹Department of Synthetic and Systems Biology for Biomedicine, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, Genoa, 16163, Italy. velia.siciliano@iit.it.

Nature Communications

|May 16, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed a synthetic gene network platform to detect intracellular proteins in mammalian cells. This technology enables sensing disease proteins and controlling cellular behavior for therapeutic applications.

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Area of Science:

Synthetic biology
Molecular and cellular biology
Biotechnology

Background:

Cellular behavior modification requires sensing and responding to intracellular changes.
Intracellular proteins signal critical cellular states like infections and diseases.
Existing methods lack precise intracellular protein detection and response.

Purpose of the Study:

To design a modular platform for intrabody-based protein sensing and actuation.
To achieve transcriptional output triggered by intracellular protein detection in mammalian cells.
To link cellular conditions to controlled cellular behavior for applications.

Main Methods:

Developed a modular platform for intrabody-based sensing-actuation devices.
Engineered transcriptional output triggered by intracellular protein detection.
Tested reporter activation (fluorescence, apoptotic gene) in mammalian cells.

Main Results:

Demonstrated reporter activation in response to proteins from Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Huntington's disease.
Showcased sensor-based interference with HIV-1's downregulation of HLA-I in infected T cells.
Validated the platform's ability to link cellular states to specific outputs.

Conclusions:

The developed platform enables sensing of intracellular proteins and triggers specific cellular responses.
This technology holds potential for scientific research and therapeutic interventions.
Provides a novel means to control cellular behavior based on detected intracellular conditions.