Difference between revisions of "Team:Michigan"

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       <h2> Abstract </h2>
 
       <h2> Abstract </h2>
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       <p>The Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis predicts that levels of defense are highest near the equator and decrease toward the poles.  This hypothesis is based mainly on insect herbivory that occurs during the summer.  Mammilian herbivory in the winter is a more likely driver of plant defense levels in northern latitudes.  Early successional trees such as birches are favored by fire and provide an important food source for mammals like snowshoe hares.  In order to test the Latitudinal Defense Hypothesis, we collected birch seeds from eight locations in northwestern Canada and grew seedlings in a common garden.  We assessed levels of defense by counting resin glands because resin glands are negatively correlated with snowshoe hare preference. This research will provide valuable information regarding the biogeography of defense and address the role of fire in plant-mammal interactions on a continental scale.<br><br>Each day 14,000 people become infected with HIV/AIDS, making the development of an effective vaccine one of the world’s top public health priorities. David Watkins’ laboratory is attempting to develop HIV vaccines that elicit cellular immune responses utilizing the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) – infected rhesus macaque animal model.  A major component of the cell-mediated immune response are cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL). It is thought that CTL play an important role in controlling HIV and SIV.  Most standard immunological assays do not measure antiviral activity directly, limiting our understanding of CTL effectiveness. To address this, the Watkins laboratory developed a novel neutralization assay that quantifies the ability of virus-specific CTL populations to control viral growth. Evaluating the antiviral activity of CTL of different specificities will identify those CTL most effective against SIV. This information will likely impact the design of future HIV vaccines.</p>
+
       <p>In the past year, paper­based transcription and translation, reconstituted from freeze­drying, have been
 +
 
 +
adapted in a variety of ways and shown to be effective after a year of storage at room temperature.   
 +
 
 +
However, currently, this technology is severely limited in its applications because protein detection
 +
 
 +
requires a different strategy for each individual protein.  Aptapaper uses the targeting specificity of
 +
 
 +
aptamers to create a modular protein detection system that can easily be adapted to any protein.  A DNA
 +
 
 +
aptamer is bound to a DNA trigger and becomes unbound in response to its protein of specificity. This
 +
 
 +
frees the DNA trigger to turn on an RNA toehold switch, resulting in a 40 fold change in reporter protein
 +
 
 +
expression, with more results to come. This system, when freeze­dried on paper, is cheap and portable,
 +
 
 +
making it well suited to tackle the unmet needs for disease detection in remote areas.<br><br>
 +
 
 +
Aptapaper uses a genetic switch system and the targeting specificity of aptamers to detect virtually any
 +
 
 +
protein, all on a simple piece of filter paper. A DNA aptamer is bound to a DNA trigger and becomes
 +
 
 +
unbound in response to its protein of specificity. This frees the DNA trigger to turn on an RNA toehold
 +
 
 +
switch, resulting in translation of a reporter protein. This system can easily be freeze­dried on paper,  
 +
 
 +
creating a cheap, durable device. We used a toehold switch design that can easily be adapted to any
 +
 
 +
trigger RNA, while still maintaining fold changes over 100, at very low background. The trigger can thus
 +
 
 +
be adapted to any aptamer, and the modularity of these toehold switches is maintained.<br><br>
 +
 
 +
Equally important, versatile toehold switches have been optimized and demonstrated to turn on a gene
 +
 
 +
circuit in response to virtually any trigger RNA.</p>
 
        
 
        
 
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<div class="seal"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/0/0a/Umich-seal.jpg"></div>
 
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Revision as of 01:44, 14 September 2015

Abstract

In the past year, paper­based transcription and translation, reconstituted from freeze­drying, have been adapted in a variety of ways and shown to be effective after a year of storage at room temperature. However, currently, this technology is severely limited in its applications because protein detection requires a different strategy for each individual protein. Aptapaper uses the targeting specificity of aptamers to create a modular protein detection system that can easily be adapted to any protein. A DNA aptamer is bound to a DNA trigger and becomes unbound in response to its protein of specificity. This frees the DNA trigger to turn on an RNA toehold switch, resulting in a 40 fold change in reporter protein expression, with more results to come. This system, when freeze­dried on paper, is cheap and portable, making it well suited to tackle the unmet needs for disease detection in remote areas.

Aptapaper uses a genetic switch system and the targeting specificity of aptamers to detect virtually any protein, all on a simple piece of filter paper. A DNA aptamer is bound to a DNA trigger and becomes unbound in response to its protein of specificity. This frees the DNA trigger to turn on an RNA toehold switch, resulting in translation of a reporter protein. This system can easily be freeze­dried on paper, creating a cheap, durable device. We used a toehold switch design that can easily be adapted to any trigger RNA, while still maintaining fold changes over 100, at very low background. The trigger can thus be adapted to any aptamer, and the modularity of these toehold switches is maintained.

Equally important, versatile toehold switches have been optimized and demonstrated to turn on a gene circuit in response to virtually any trigger RNA.