Difference between revisions of "Team:UCL/Description"

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<h2><span id="background" style="padding-top: 100px;">Tryptophan regulation</span></h2>
 
<h2><span id="background" style="padding-top: 100px;">Tryptophan regulation</span></h2>
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<div><p>Our first target is tryptophan metabolism which we are going to control by:</p>
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<li> inserting an antisense tryptophanase gene into E. coli to repress the expression of tryptophanase. This enzyme is present in most bacterial cells and degrades tryptophan which is the precursor of serotonin. Controlling tryptophanase output would allow accumulation of tryptophan in the cells and thus an increase in serotonin levels which could be a useful target for depression as many patients with depression have low serotonin levels.</li>
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<li> using the enzyme TPH1 which converts tryptophan to a precursor of serotonin. In a similar way as above this could be a mechanism to elevate the levels of serotonin in people with naturally low levels of this neurotransmitter.</li>
 
  
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<li>inserting the KAT gene (Kynurenine aminotransferase) into E. coli. This enzyme is necessary for the synthesis of kynurenic acid, a metabolite of tryptophan. This enzyme has been linked to schizophrenia and is being considered as a possible target for treatment.</li>
 
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<h2><span id="constructs" style="padding-top: 100px;">Neurotransmitters</span></h2>
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<p>The second part of our project involves the production of neurotransmitters that target the same problems.
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Hence, we are using genes expressing the following neurotransmitters:</p>
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<li>GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid)</li>
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<li>Acetylcholine</li>
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<p>fighting mental illness with probiotics-->
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<p>These neurotransmitters are naturally produced by some gut microbes. We want to make them dependent on stimuli present in people with mental health issues.</p>
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<h2>Why mental health?</h2>
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<p>Millions of people worldwide suffer from mental health disorders and the consequences are severe for the economy, society and individuals. The WHO estimates that depression will be the most second-most important disease burden in the world by 2020, even surpassing cancer. Today already, there are an estimated 450 million people suffering from mental illnesses.</p>
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<p>However, there is still only limited knowledge about the causes of many mental health diseases  which makes patients face problems such as stigma, misconceptions and side-effects from medication. In recent years research has offered some insight into the connection between mental health and the bacteria inhabiting our bodies, the microbiom. </p>
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<p>We therefore decided to dedicate our summer to tackle mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety using synthetic biology tools and targeting this connection. Our project is not only a proof of concept that mental health can be addressed with synthetic biology, we also found our project to be effective to reduce the stigma around mental health problems.</p>
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<h1>What have we done?</h1>
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<h2>Our parts</h2>
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We have designed mechanisms in probiotic bacteria that allow them to respond to and take an effect on mental health. This means our probiotics can sense when a person is feeling depressed or anxious or has a panic attack  and can then respond appropriately in order to reduce the symptoms. <read more>
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<p>We have made … new parts and have improved … parts.</p>
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One of the basic parts that is central to our project the TPH1 producing part which is the rate limiting enzyme for Serotonin production, one of the human’s most important natural happy-makers <read more about TPH1>  
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<p><b>How do our devices work?</b></p>
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The devices we made consist of two main components. Sensing modules that sense the existence of a biomarker of depression or anxiety in the gut and responding modules that consist of genes that are involved in the pathways between the brain and the gut, for example TPH1 and Gad, which are important for Serotonin and GABA production <read more>
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<!--Good place for an explanatory picture of one of the pathways, or a video! -->
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<h2>Public engagement</h2>
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We organised several events to make people express their feelings about mental health and about GMOs. This includes late night events at the science museum, art exhibitions, interview with stake-holders and more. One of our events, an “open-mind night” was so successful that one of the charities we worked with is making it a monthly event. <read more>
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<h2>Entrepreneurship</h2>
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Researchers found out that chocolate was a more efficient delivery method for probiotics than yogurt or milk, so we developed a product that could deliver our bacteria and taste good at the same time. We worked out a complete business model and are about to have our product “Prokao” patented. <read more>
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<h2>The gut-on-the-chip</h2>
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We developed a model that can be used to imitate conditions in the human gut, even recreating the motion of segmentation and peristalsis, something which has never been done before. This can allow us and future researchers to conduct experiments in controlled conditions without human subjects.
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<read more>
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<h2>References</h2>
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You can find our references on this page and also by hovering over the references in the texts in our wiki.
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<p>In order to be viable as a treatment for mental disorders like depression the output of neuroactive compounds by bacteria needs to be specific to triggers that are caused by depression in the gut and decrease output when no signals for depression are present. We are therefore testing different promoters in combination with our effectors that could be relevant in this context which includes an adrenaline-sensitive promoter, a nitric-oxide sensing promoter, osmoregulated promoter, and pH-sensitive promoter.</p>
 
  
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Revision as of 23:32, 14 September 2015

'

Overview
▼

Why mental health?

Millions of people worldwide suffer from mental health disorders and the consequences are severe for the economy, society and individuals. The WHO estimates that depression will be the most second-most important disease burden in the world by 2020, even surpassing cancer. Today already, there are an estimated 450 million people suffering from mental illnesses.



However, there is still only limited knowledge about the causes of many mental health diseases which makes patients face problems such as stigma, misconceptions and side-effects from medication. In recent years research has offered some insight into the connection between mental health and the bacteria inhabiting our bodies, the microbiom.

We therefore decided to dedicate our summer to tackle mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety using synthetic biology tools and targeting this connection. Our project is not only a proof of concept that mental health can be addressed with synthetic biology, we also found our project to be effective to reduce the stigma around mental health problems.

What have we done?

Our parts

We have designed mechanisms in probiotic bacteria that allow them to respond to and take an effect on mental health. This means our probiotics can sense when a person is feeling depressed or anxious or has a panic attack and can then respond appropriately in order to reduce the symptoms.

We have made … new parts and have improved … parts.

One of the basic parts that is central to our project the TPH1 producing part which is the rate limiting enzyme for Serotonin production, one of the human’s most important natural happy-makers

How do our devices work?

The devices we made consist of two main components. Sensing modules that sense the existence of a biomarker of depression or anxiety in the gut and responding modules that consist of genes that are involved in the pathways between the brain and the gut, for example TPH1 and Gad, which are important for Serotonin and GABA production

Public engagement

We organised several events to make people express their feelings about mental health and about GMOs. This includes late night events at the science museum, art exhibitions, interview with stake-holders and more. One of our events, an “open-mind night” was so successful that one of the charities we worked with is making it a monthly event.

Entrepreneurship

Researchers found out that chocolate was a more efficient delivery method for probiotics than yogurt or milk, so we developed a product that could deliver our bacteria and taste good at the same time. We worked out a complete business model and are about to have our product “Prokao” patented.

The gut-on-the-chip

We developed a model that can be used to imitate conditions in the human gut, even recreating the motion of segmentation and peristalsis, something which has never been done before. This can allow us and future researchers to conduct experiments in controlled conditions without human subjects.

References

You can find our references on this page and also by hovering over the references in the texts in our wiki.