Xlera8

In vitro allosteric transcription factor-based biosensing

Glossary

Allosteric transcription factor (aTF)

a major class of regulatory proteins that are also known as one-component signal transduction systems. On binding to small molecules, aTFs undergo a conformational change that alters their affinity to a specific DNA binding site.

Amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay (AlphaScreen)

a bead-based assay technology used to study biomolecular interactions in a microplate format.

Collateral cleavage

also known as trans cleavage; nonspecific cleavage of ssDNA or RNA only when class 2 CRISPR-Cas binds to the target sequence (dsDNA or RNA).

Directed evolution

a method used in protein engineering that mimics the process of natural selection to steer proteins toward a user-defined goal.

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)

optical process of energy transfer that occurs rapidly from a donor molecule to an acceptor molecule in juxtaposition within a distance of 10 nm.

Genetic circuit

an assembly of biological parts that enables cells to perform desired functions.

In vitro transcription–translation (TX-TL) system

a method that synthesizes proteins from DNA or mRNA in test tubes. It is a good platform for mimicking living cells in homogeneous buffer solutions in vitro.

Quantum dot (QD)

a nanometer-sized luminescent semiconductor crystal with unique chemical and physical properties due to its size and highly compact structure.

Recognition element

specifically recognizes analytes. Enzymes, aptamers, antibodies, and cells are examples of recognition elements.

Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA)

a highly sensitive and selective isothermal amplification technique, which is currently commercialized by TwistDx.

Rolling circle amplification (RCA)

a unidirectional nucleic acid replication process. This isothermal process can produce a concatemer containing tens to hundreds of tandem repeats that are complementary to the circular template. The produced concatemer can be separated by a special endonuclease to generate many target repeats.

Strand displacement amplification (SDA)

an isothermal, in vitro nucleic acid amplification technique. It relies on a strand displacement DNA polymerase (e.g., DNA polymerase Klenow F), a DNA nicking event targeted via primer design, and a corresponding nicking endonuclease. The nicking site is regenerated with each polymerase displacement step for repeated cycles of nicking and extension, with the downstream strand displaced and free to anneal to primers in solution for amplification from the other end, resulting in exponential amplification.

Transduction system

a module that can convert recognition events into measurable signals.

Whole-cell biosensor (WCB)

using microbial cells as the recognition and transduction elements to respond to analytes and produce detectable output signals.

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