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Team:Imperial College London/M2
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Revision as of 15:50, 18 October 2009
Contents |
Module 2 - Encapsulsation
The E.ncapsulatior has been designed to be able to withstand the rigours of stomach acid and freeze drying. This is achieved by the synthesis of the exopolysaccharide colanic acid and the cryoprotectant trehalose.
Acid Resistance Theory:
By 'hacking' E.coli’s endogenous acid resistance pathways in three places we induced the formation of a safe colanic acid microcapsule that protects against the harsh acidic conditions of the stomach. Without encapsulation, our polypeptides would be denatured and degraded by stomach acid and digestive proteases respectively.
About induced acid resistance.
The Encapsulation Triple Hack:
Acid Resistance Results:
To characterise colanic acid encapsulation, we assembled the following testing constructs:
Freeze Drying Theory:
Freeze drying is the process by which a material is preserved via its dehydration at a very low temperature. Freeze drying our chassis would slow the decomposition of the polypeptide of interest and prevent the growth of any contaminants. Unfortunatly, freeze drying can seriously damage cell membranes and denature the internal polypeptides. To prevent this from occuring we have decided to upregulate the biosynthesis of the cryoprotectant trehalose. The genes OtsA and OtsB are required for trehalose production.
About freeze drying & trehalose biosynthesis.
Freeze Drying Results:
To characterise the protective effect of trehalose against freeze drying, we assembled the following testing constructs:
Unfortunatly, we did not have time to ligate together both OtsA and OtsB and were therefore unable to do any functional assays.
Finale:
The end of Module 2 occurs when the temperature of the culture is raised to 42 degrees centigrade. This temperature shift triggers the initiation of Module 3 in which the genome is deleted.
Project Tour
Module 2 Contents
