Control of spatio-temporal patterning via cell growth in a multicellular synthetic gene circuit
A major goal in synthetic development is to build gene regulatory circuits that control patterning. In natural development, an interplay between mechanical and chemical communication shapes the dynamics of multicellular gene regulatory circuits. For synthetic circuits, how non-genetic properties of the growth environment impact circuit behavior remains poorly explored. Here, we first describe an occurrence of mechano-chemical coupling in synthetic Notch (synNotch) patterning circuits: high cell density decreases synNotch-gated gene expression in different cellular systems in vitro. We then construct, both in vitro and in silico, a synNotch-based signal propagation circuit whose outcome can be regulated by cell density. Spatial and temporal patterning outcomes of this circuit can be predicted and controlled via modulation of cell proliferation, initial cell density, and/or spatial distribution of cell density. Our work demonstrates that synthetic patterning circuit outcome can be controlled via cellular growth, providing a means for programming multicellular circuit patterning outcomes.
Authors
- Marco Santorelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9633-7825)
- Pranav S. Bhamidipati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6199-6505)
- Matt Thomson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1021-1234)
- Kyle Poon
- Trusha Sondkar
- Mattias Malaguti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4392-7183)
- Josquin Courte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4120-1186)
- Leonardo Morsut (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7049-3478)
- Benjamin Swedlund (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8264-9342)
- Giorgia Quadrato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0717-4874)
- Naisargee Jain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2505-2189)
- Dominik Schildknecht (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0678-0904)
- Sally Lowell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4018-9480)
- Andriu Kavanagh
- Victoria A. MacKrell
Institutions
- University of Southern California (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- California State University, Northridge (US)
- MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine (GB)
- Broad Center (US)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-11-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53078-8
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.10
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation
- Belgian American Educational Foundation
- Wellcome Trust
- Heritage Medical Research Institute
- National Institutes of Health
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems