Benedikt Klauser

Artificial ribozyme switches containing natural riboswitch aptamer domains.

RNA Lego: The use of natural riboswitch aptamers in synthetic RNA switches (see picture) should broaden the scope of artificial RNA regulators dramatically. It is shown that thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) aptamers can be used in engineered devices as very sensitive switches of gene expression in unmodified organisms. The approach demonstrates that intrinsic metabolites can be utilized as external effectors of cellular functions.

Ribozyme-Based Aminoglycoside Switches of Gene Expression Engineered by Genetic Selection in S. cerevisiae

Systems for conditional gene expression are powerful tools in basic research as well as in biotechnology. For future applications, it is of great importance to engineer orthogonal genetic switches that function reliably in diverse contexts. RNA-based switches have the advantage that effector molecules interact immediately with regulatory modules inserted into the target RNAs, getting rid of the need of transcription factors usually mediating genetic control. Artificial riboswitches are characterized by their simplicity and small size accompanied by a high degree of modularity. We have recently reported a series of hammerhead ribozyme-based artificial riboswitches that allow for post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression via switching mRNA, tRNA, or rRNA functions. A more widespread application was so far hampered by moderate switching performances and a limited set of effector molecules available. Here, we report the re-engineering of hammerhead ribozymes in order to respond efficiently to aminoglycoside antibiotics. We first established an in vivo selection protocol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that enabled us to search large sequence spaces for optimized switches. We then envisioned and characterized a novel strategy of attaching the aptamer to the ribozyme catalytic core, increasing the design options for rendering the ribozyme ligand-dependent. These innovations enabled the development of neomycin-dependent RNA modules that switch gene expression up to 25-fold. The presented aminoglycoside-responsive riboswitches belong to the best-performing RNA-based genetic regulators reported so far. The developed in vivo selection protocol should allow for sampling of large sequence spaces for engineering of further optimized riboswitches.

An engineered small RNA-mediated genetic switch based on a ribozyme expression platform

An important requirement for achieving many goals of synthetic biology is the availability of a large repertoire of reprogrammable genetic switches and appropriate transmitter molecules. In addition to engineering genetic switches, the interconnection of individual switches becomes increasingly important for the construction of more complex genetic networks. In particular, RNA-based switches of gene expression have become a powerful tool to post-transcriptionally program genetic circuits. RNAs used for regulatory purposes have the advantage to transmit, sense, process and execute information. We have recently used the hammerhead ribozyme to control translation initiation in a small molecule-dependent fashion. In addition, riboregulators have been constructed in which a small RNA acts as transmitter molecule to control translation of a target mRNA. In this study, we combine both concepts and redesign the hammerhead ribozyme to sense small trans-acting RNAs (taRNAs) as input molecules resulting in repression of translation initiation in Escherichia coli. Importantly, our ribozyme-based expression platform is compatible with previously reported artificial taRNAs, which were reported to act as inducers of gene expression. In addition, we provide several insights into key requirements of riboregulatory systems, including the influences of varying transcriptional induction of the taRNA and mRNA transcripts, 5′-processing of taRNAs, as well as altering the secondary structure of the taRNA. In conclusion, we introduce an RNA-responsive ribozyme-based expression system to the field of artificial riboregulators that can serve as reprogrammable platform for engineering higher-order genetic circuits.

Riboswitch-mediated Attenuation of Transgene Cytotoxicity Increases Adeno-associated Virus Vector Yields in HEK-293 Cells

Cytotoxicity of transgenes carried by adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors might be desired, for instance, in oncolytic virotherapy or occur unexpectedly in exploratory research when studying sparsely characterized genes. To date, most AAV-based studies use constitutively active promoters (e.g., the CMV promoter) to drive transgene expression, which often hampers efficient AAV production due to cytotoxic, antiproliferative, or unknown transgene effects interfering with producer cell performance. Therefore, we explored artificial riboswitches as novel tools to control transgene expression during AAV production in mammalian cells. Our results demonstrate that the guanine-responsive GuaM8HDV aptazyme efficiently attenuates transgene expression and associated detrimental effects, thereby boosting AAV vector yields up to 23-fold after a single addition of guanine. Importantly, riboswitch-harboring vectors preserved their ability to express functional transgene at high levels in the absence of ligand, as demonstrated in a mouse model of AAV-TGFβ1-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Thus, our study provides the first application-ready biotechnological system-based on aptazymes, which should enable high viral vector yields largely independent of the transgene used. Moreover, the RNA-intrinsic, small-molecule regulatable mode of action of riboswitches provides key advantages over conventional transcription factor-based regulatory systems. Therefore, such riboswitch vectors might be ultimately applied to temporally control therapeutic transgene expression in vivo.

In vivo screening of ligand-dependent hammerhead ribozymes.

The development of artificial switches of gene expression is of high importance for future applications in biotechnology and synthetic biology. We have developed a powerful RNA-based system which allows for the ligand-dependent and reprogrammable control of gene expression in Escherichia coli. Our system makes use of the hammerhead ribozyme (HHR) which acts as molecular scaffold for the sequestration of the ribosome binding site (RBS), mimicking expression platforms in naturally occurring riboswitches. Aptamer domains can be attached to the ribozyme as exchangeable ligand-sensing modules. Addition of ligands to the bacterial growth medium changes the activity of the ligand-dependent self-cleaving ribozyme which in turn switches gene expression. In this chapter, we describe the in vivo screening procedure allowing for reprogramming the ligand-specificity of our system.

Engineering Aptazyme Switches for Conditional Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells Utilizing an In Vivo Screening Approach

Artificial RNA switches are an emerging class of genetic controllers suitable for synthetic biology applications. Aptazymes are fusions composed of an aptamer domain and a self-cleaving ribozyme. The utilization of aptazymes for conditional gene expression displays several advantages over employing conventional transcription factor-based techniques as aptazymes require minimal genomic space, fulfill their function without the need of protein cofactors, and most importantly are reprogrammable with respect to ligand selectivity and the RNA function to be regulated. Technologies that enable the generation of aptazymes to defined input ligands are of interest for the construction of biocomputing devices and biosensing applications. In this chapter we present a method that facilitates the in vivo screening of randomized pools of aptazymes in mammalian cells.

Engineering of Ribozyme-Based Aminoglycoside Switches of Gene Expression by In Vivo Genetic Selection in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Synthetic RNA-based switches are a growing class of genetic controllers applied in synthetic biology to engineer cellular functions. In this chapter, we detail a protocol for the selection of posttranscriptional controllers of gene expression in yeast using the Schistosoma mansoni hammerhead ribozyme as a central catalytic unit. Incorporation of a small molecule-sensing aptamer domain into the ribozyme renders its activity ligand-dependent. Aptazymes display numerous advantages over conventional protein-based transcriptional controllers, namely, the use of little genomic space for encryption, their modular architecture allowing for easy reprogramming to new inputs, the physical linkage to the message to be controlled, and the ability to function without protein cofactors. Herein, we describe the method to select ribozyme-based switches of gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that we successfully implemented to engineer neomycin- and theophylline-responsive switches. We also highlight how to adapt the protocol to screen for switches responsive to other ligands. Reprogramming of the sensor unit and incorporation into any RNA of interest enables the fulfillment of a variety of regulatory functions. However, proper functioning of the aptazyme is largely dependent on optimal connection between the aptamer and the catalytic core. We obtained functional switches from a pool of variants carrying randomized connection sequences by an in vivo selection in MaV203 yeast cells that allows screening of a large sequence space of up to 1×10(9) variants. The protocol given explains how to construct aptazyme libraries, carry out the in vivo selection and characterize novel ON- and OFF-switches.

Highly motif- and organism-dependent effects of naturally occurring hammerhead ribozyme sequences on gene expression

ABSTRACT Recent bioinformatics studies have demonstrated a wide-spread occurrence of the hammerhead ribozyme (HHR) and similar small endonucleolytic RNA motifs in all domains of life. It is becoming increasingly evident that such ribozyme motifs participate in important genetic processes in diverse organisms. Although the HHR motif has been studied for more than three decades, only little is known about the consequences of ribozyme activity on gene expression. In the present study we analysed eight different naturally occurring HHR sequences in diverse genetic and organismal contexts. We investigated the influence of active ribozymes incorporated into mRNAs in mammalian, yeast and bacterial expression systems. The experiments show an unexpectedly high degree of organism-specific variability of ribozyme-mediated effects on gene expression. The presented findings demonstrate that ribozyme cleavage profoundly affect gene expression. However, the extent of this effect varies and depends strongly on the respective genetic context. The fast-cleaving type 3 HHRs [CChMVd(-) and sLTSV(-)] generally tended to cause the strongest effects on intracellular gene expression. The presented results are important in order to address potential functions of naturally occurring ribozymes in RNA processing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Additionally, our results are of interest for biotechnology and synthetic biology approaches that aim at the utilisation of self-cleaving ribozymes as widely applicable tools for controlling genetic processes.

Screening of Genetic Switches Based on the Twister Ribozyme Motif.

The recent description of a new class of small endonucleolytic ribozymes termed twister opened new avenues into the development of artificial riboswitches, providing new tools for the development of artificial genetic circuits in bacteria. Here we present a method to develop new ligand-dependent riboswitches, employing the newly described catalytic motif as an expression platform in conjugation with naturally occurring or in vitro-selected aptameric domains. The twister motif is an outstandingly flexible tool for the development of highly active ribozyme-based riboswitches able to control gene expression in a ligand-dependent manner in Escherichia coli.

678. Increasing AAV Vector Yield By Riboswitch-Mediated Attenuation of Toxic Transgene Effects in HEK-293 Producer Cells

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are among the most promising viral vector systems for human gene therapy and have also been used extensively to investigate gene function in preclinical research. Achievement of high-titer vector yields regardless of the packaged transgene hence is a key goal of process optimization. However, transgenes expressed by constitutive, ubiquitously active promoters (such as the CMV promoter) often impair producer cell performance due to cytotoxic, anti-proliferative or other unknown effects, resulting in low vector yield.In our study, we explored artificial aptazyme riboswitches as novel RNA-intrinsic tools to regulate vector transgene activity during AAV production in HEK-293 cells. To this end, we integrated the guanine-responsive GuaM8HDV aptazyme in the UTR of a standard AAV transgene cassette and explored switching behavior under AAV production conditions.Our results demonstrate that transgene expression can be efficiently attenuated by a single addition of guanine in a routine medium exchange step during AAV production, thereby decreasing producer cell performance-impairing transgene effects such as cytotoxicity. In a proof-of-concept study using transgenes with both known (e.g. pro-apoptotic) as well as unknown modes of producer cell impairment, AAV vector yields could be boosted up to 23-fold with the riboswitch approach as compared to conventional vectors. As expected, this effect worked independently of the AAV serotype/capsid variant used. Importantly, GuaM8HDV-harboring AAV vectors preserved functionality (i.e. the ability to express the transgene) in vivo, as demonstrated in a mouse model of AAV-TGFb1-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Contrary to other inducible systems for gene expression control, the riboswitch system presented here does not require expression of additional transcription factors, but works in a small-molecule regulatable, RNA-intrinsic manner. Moreover, the riboswitch sequence only occupies ≈100 base pairs of plasmid space – a particular advantage for AAV vectors. Finally, this approach should in principle be expandable to other viral vector systems produced in mammalian cell culture such as Adenoviral vectors.Thus, we propose riboswitches as novel tools to foster transgeneindependent, high-titer production of viral vectors in mammalian cell culture systems. Moreover, our study further supports exploration of this technology for other purposes such as studying transgene dynamics and controlling transgene expression as a safety module in next-generation gene therapy vectors.