Winner-takes-all resource competition redirects cascading cell fate transitions.

ABSTRACT: Failure of modularity remains a significant challenge for assembling synthetic gene circuits with tested modules as they often do not function as expected. Competition over shared limited gene expression resources is a crucial underlying reason. It was reported that resource competition makes two seemingly separate genes connect in a graded linear manner. Here we unveil nonlinear resource competition within synthetic gene circuits. We first build a synthetic cascading bistable switches (Syn-CBS) circuit in a single strain with two coupled self-activation modules to achieve two successive cell fate transitions. Interestingly, we find that the in vivo transition path was redirected as the activation of one switch always prevails against the other, contrary to the theoretically expected coact

SUBMITTER: Zhang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7870843 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature