ArticleNature communications2017
Design of synthetic epigenetic circuits featuring memory effects and reversible switching based on DNA methylation.
Article in Nature communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed.
- Translating biosynthetic gene cluster architecture into biosensor design for microbial natural product discovery.Essays in biochemistry · 2026Review
- Epigenetic landscape of Leishmania-host interactions.Epigenomics · 2025Review
- A population model reveals a surprising role of stochastic cell division in epigenetic memory systems.iScience · 2025Article
- Gene circuit-based sensors.Fundamental research · 2025Review
- Toward DNA-Based Recording of Biological Processes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Engineering plasmid copy number heterogeneity for dynamic microbial adaptation.Nature microbiology · 2024Article
- Emerging methylation-based approaches in microbiome engineering.Biotechnology for biofuels and bioproducts · 2024Review
- Genome-wide deposition of 6-methyladenine in human DNA reduces the viability of HEK293 cells and directly influences gene expression.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Bacterial DNA methyltransferase: A key to the epigenetic world with lessons learned from proteobacteria.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Review
- Review
- Bacterial degrons in synthetic circuits.Open biology · 2022Review
- Model-Based Design of a Synthetic Oscillator Based on an Epigenetic Methylation Memory System.ACS synthetic biology · 2022Article
- DNA Methylation in Prokaryotes.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2022Article
- Mechanisms and Biological Roles of DNA Methyltransferases and DNA Methylation: From Past Achievements to Future Challenges.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2022Review
- The bacterial epigenome.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2020Review
- Article
- A portable epigenetic switch for bistable gene expression in bacteria.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Beyond the Four Bases: A Home Run for Synthetic Epigenetic Control?Molecular cell · 2019Article
- Rational engineering of synthetic microbial systems: from single cells to consortia.Current opinion in microbiology · 2018Review
- Scaling up genetic circuit design for cellular computing: advances and prospects.Natural computing · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Epigenetic systems store information in DNA methylation patterns in a durable but reversible manner, but have not been regularly used in synthetic biology. Here, we designed synthetic epigenetic memory systems using DNA methylation sensitive engineered zinc finger proteins to repress a memory operon comprising the CcrM methyltransferase and a reporter. Triggering by heat, nutrients, ultraviolet irradiation or DNA damaging compounds induces CcrM expression and DNA methylation. In the induced on-state, methylation in the operator of the memory operon prevents zinc finger protein binding leading to positive feedback and permanent activation. Using an mf-Lon protease degradable CcrM variant enables reversible switching. Epigenetic memory systems have numerous potential applications in synthetic biology, including life biosensors, death switches or induction systems for industrial protein production. The large variety of bacterial DNA methyltransferases potentially allows for massive multiplexing of signal storage and logical operations depending on more than one input signal.
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