报告题目: Prosthetic Gene Networks for Biomedical Applications

报告人: Martin Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) of the ETH Zurich.

主持人:  叶海峰 研究员

报告时间: 6月29日 10:00 （周三上午）

报告地点: 生科院534报告厅

主办单位: 天美娱乐 科技处

 

报告人简介：Martin Fussenegger is Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) of the ETH Zurich in Basel as well as at the University of Basel. His research focuses on mammalian cell engineering, in particular on the assembly of synthetic gene circuits that process complex control and closed-loop expression logic and on the production of theranostic designer cells implants that interface with host metabolism and have the potential to correct prominent metabolic disorders. Martin Fussenegger graduated with Werner Arber at the Biocenter of the University of Basel (1992), obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology (1994) at the Max Planck Institute of Biology (Tübingen) and continued his postdoctoral studies on host-pathogen interactions at the Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology (Berlin, 1995). Subsequently, he joined the ETH Institute of Biotechnology (1996), where he received his habilitation in 2000, and became Swiss National Science Foundation Professor of Molecular Biotechnology in 2002, prior to being awarded a Chair in Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the ETH Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering in 2004. On a presidential mission, he moved to Basel in 2008 to build up the D-BSSE, the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering of the ETH Zurich. Martin Fussenegger is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences. He received the Gaden Award, the Merck Cell Culture Engineering Award, the Medal of the European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT), the Gutenberg Chair Excellence Award, an Advanced Grant Award of the European Research Council and received the James E. Bailey Award.

 

报告摘要：Since Paracelsus’ (1493-1541) definition that the dose makes the drug, the basic treatment strategies have largely remained unchanged. Following diagnosis of a disease the doctor prescribes specific doses of small-molecule drugs or protein pharmaceuticals which interfere with disease-associated molecular targets. However, this treatment concept lacks any diagnostic feedback, prophylactic impact and dynamic dosage regimen. We have pioneered the concept of metabolic prostheses which, akin to mechanical prosthesis replacing defective body parts, interface with host metabolism to detect and correct metabolic disorders. Metabolic prostheses consist of designer cells containing synthetic sensor-effector gene networks which detect critical levels of disease metabolites, processes pathological input with Boolean logic and fine-tune in-situ production and release of protein therapeutics in a seamless, self-sufficient and closed-loop manner. When implanted inside insulated, immunoprotective and autovascularizing microcontainers the metabolic prostheses connect to the bloodstream, constantly monitor the levels of disease-associated metabolites and trigger an immediate therapeutic response to prevent, attenuate or correct the disease. With their unique characteristic to dynamically link diagnosis to dose-specific in-situ production and delivery of protein pharmaceuticals, metabolic protheses will enable new treatment strategies in the future. We will present our latest generation of remote-controlled gene switches, biosensor circuits and metabolic prostheses and highlight the impact of synthetic biology on future biomedical applications.

 

Top 10 Publications:

    Fussenegger et al., 2000. A mathematical model of caspase function. Nat. Biotechnol. 18: 768.

    Fussenegger et al., 2000. Streptogramin-based regulation systems. Nat. Biotechnol. 18: 1203

    Weber et al., 2002. Macrolide-based transgene control in mice. Nat. Biotechnol. 20: 901.

    Kramer et al., 2004. An epigenetic transgene swtich in mammalian cells. Nat. Biotechnol. 22. 867.

    Weber et al., 2004. Gas-inducible transgene expression in mice. Nat. Biotechnol. 22: 1440.

    Tigges et al., 2009. A tunable synthetic mammalian oscillator. Nature 457: 309.

    Kemmer et al., 2010. Control of urate homeostasis by a synthetic circuit. Nat. Biotechnol. 28: 355.  

    Ye et al., 2011. An optogenetic device enhancing blood-glucose homeostasis. Science 332: 1565.

    Bacchus et al., 2012. Synthetic two-way communication in mammalian cells. Nat. Biotechnol. 30: 991.

     Auslaender et al., 2012. Programmable single-cell mammalian biocomputers. Nature 487: 123.