Difference between revisions of "Team:Oxford/Description"

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<h2> Project Description </h2>
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<h1>Project Summary</h1>
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<p class="text">We are interested in developing an autonomous antibacterial system using an E. coli chassis through synthetic biology. Our antibacterial strategy involves a two-step mechanism: <ul>
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<p>i) Destroy the bacterial biofilm which confers the bacteria encased within significantly increased resilience against antibiotics. </p>
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<p>ii) Destroy the liberated bacteria by directly lysing their cell walls.</p>
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<p>Tell us about your project, describe what moves you and why this is something important for your team.</p>
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<p>We will be experimenting with antibacterial action against E. coli and P. aeruginosa. </p>
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<h5>What should this page contain?</h5>
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<h3>Antibiofilm action</h3>
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<p class="text">The cartoon above shows two of the major structural components of bacterial biofilms - extracellular polymeric substance (a.k.a. EPS, in <span class="blue">blue</span>) and extracellular DNA (in <span class="pink">pink</span>). The Doctor. coli system will release the following enzymes targeting these structural components:
 
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<li> A clear and concise description of your project.</li>
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<li>A detailed explanation of why your team chose to work on this particular project.</li>
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<li>References and sources to document your research.</li>
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    <td>Dispersin B</td>
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    <td>Destroys E. coli biofilms by hydrolysing beta-1,6-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, which is the major EPS in E. coli biofilms</td>
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    <td>Thermonuclease</td>
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    <td>Also commonly known as staphylococcal nuclease, this enzyme can destroy P. aeruginosa biofilms by hydrolysing its extracellular DNA</td>
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<h4>Advice on writing your Project Description</h4>
 
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We encourage you to put up a lot of information and content on your wiki, but we also encourage you to include summaries as much as possible. If you think of the sections in your project description as the sections in a publication, you should try to be consist, accurate and unambiguous in your achievements.
 
 
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<h3>Antibacterial action</h3>
  
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<p class="text">Doctor. coli will release "artilysins", which is a class of combination biomolecules made by fusing endolysins (phage-derived enzymes that hydrolyse bacterial cell walls) with SMAP-29 (a transporter peptide that brings the complex through the bacterial outer membrane such that it can get in contact with the cell wall). Endolysins are species-selective in terms of the type of cell wall which they hydrolyse, and as such Doctor. coli will be making two different artilysins:
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Judges like to read your wiki and know exactly what you have achieved. This is how you should think about these sections; from the point of view of the judge evaluating you at the end of the year.
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    <td>Art-175</td>
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    <td>An artilysin specific for P. aeruginosa comprising endolysin KZ-144 and SMAP-29, invented in 2013</td>
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    <td>Art-E</td>
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    <td>An E. coli-specific artilysin, comprising T4 endolysin and SMAP-29, conceptualized and designed by our team</td>
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<h3>Overall design</h3>
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<p class="text">We intend to construct two variations of Doctor. coli</p>
  
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<h4>References</h4>
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<p>iGEM teams are encouraged to record references you use during the course of your research. They should be posted somewhere on your wiki so that judges and other visitors can see how you though about your project and what works inspired you.</p>
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<h4>Inspiration</h4>
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<p>See how other teams have described and presented their projects: </p>
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<li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Project"> Imperial</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UC_Davis/Project_Overview"> UC Davis</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:SYSU-Software/Overview">SYSU Software</a></li>
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Revision as of 11:06, 23 May 2015

Team Oxford

Project Summary



We are interested in developing an autonomous antibacterial system using an E. coli chassis through synthetic biology. Our antibacterial strategy involves a two-step mechanism:

    i) Destroy the bacterial biofilm which confers the bacteria encased within significantly increased resilience against antibiotics.

    ii) Destroy the liberated bacteria by directly lysing their cell walls.

We will be experimenting with antibacterial action against E. coli and P. aeruginosa.


Antibiofilm action

The cartoon above shows two of the major structural components of bacterial biofilms - extracellular polymeric substance (a.k.a. EPS, in blue) and extracellular DNA (in pink). The Doctor. coli system will release the following enzymes targeting these structural components:

    Dispersin B Destroys E. coli biofilms by hydrolysing beta-1,6-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, which is the major EPS in E. coli biofilms
    Thermonuclease Also commonly known as staphylococcal nuclease, this enzyme can destroy P. aeruginosa biofilms by hydrolysing its extracellular DNA


Antibacterial action

Doctor. coli will release "artilysins", which is a class of combination biomolecules made by fusing endolysins (phage-derived enzymes that hydrolyse bacterial cell walls) with SMAP-29 (a transporter peptide that brings the complex through the bacterial outer membrane such that it can get in contact with the cell wall). Endolysins are species-selective in terms of the type of cell wall which they hydrolyse, and as such Doctor. coli will be making two different artilysins:

    Art-175 An artilysin specific for P. aeruginosa comprising endolysin KZ-144 and SMAP-29, invented in 2013
    Art-E An E. coli-specific artilysin, comprising T4 endolysin and SMAP-29, conceptualized and designed by our team


Overall design

We intend to construct two variations of Doctor. coli