Damiati Samar, Mhanna Rami, Kodzius Rimantas, Ehmoser Eva-Kathrin
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Biomedical Engineering Program, The American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon.
Genes (Basel). 2018 Mar 6;9(3):144. doi: 10.3390/genes9030144.
Synthetic biology is a rapidly growing multidisciplinary branch of science which aims to mimic complex biological systems by creating similar forms. Constructing an artificial system requires optimization at the gene and protein levels to allow the formation of entire biological pathways. Advances in cell-free synthetic biology have helped in discovering new genes, proteins, and pathways bypassing the complexity of the complex pathway interactions in living cells. Furthermore, this method is cost- and time-effective with access to the cellular protein factory without the membrane boundaries. The freedom of design, full automation, and mimicking of in vivo systems reveal advantages of synthetic biology that can improve the molecular understanding of processes, relevant for life science applications. In parallel, in vitro approaches have enhanced our understanding of the living system. This review highlights the recent evolution of cell-free gene design, proteins, and cells integrated with microfluidic platforms as a promising technology, which has allowed for the transformation of the concept of bioprocesses. Although several challenges remain, the manipulation of biological synthetic machinery in microfluidic devices as suitable 'homes' for in vitro protein synthesis has been proposed as a pioneering approach for the development of new platforms, relevant in biomedical and diagnostic contexts towards even the sensing and monitoring of environmental issues.
合成生物学是一个迅速发展的多学科科学分支，旨在通过创造相似形式来模拟复杂的生物系统。构建一个人工系统需要在基因和蛋白质水平进行优化，以形成完整的生物途径。无细胞合成生物学的进展有助于发现新基因、蛋白质和途径，绕过活细胞中复杂途径相互作用的复杂性。此外，这种方法具有成本效益和时间效益，可利用无膜边界的细胞蛋白质工厂。设计的自由度、完全自动化以及对体内系统的模拟揭示了合成生物学的优势，这些优势可以提高对生命科学应用相关过程的分子理解。与此同时，体外方法增强了我们对生命系统的理解。本综述强调了无细胞基因设计、蛋白质以及与微流控平台整合的细胞作为一种有前景的技术的最新进展，这使得生物过程的概念得以转变。尽管仍然存在一些挑战，但在微流控装置中操纵生物合成机制作为体外蛋白质合成的合适“场所”，已被提议作为开发新平台的开创性方法，这些新平台在生物医学和诊断背景下甚至对于环境问题的传感和监测都具有相关性。
