Effective Indicator of Preterm Labor

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Effective Indicator of Preterm Labor
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INPUT
OUTPUT
High Levels of fFN Decrease in Progesterone Increa
se in Oxytocin Cervical Dilation
Banana Smell (MIT iGEM 2006) Progesterone (to
suppress contractions)
Device
Goal To create a device to implant in the vagina
that senses four symptoms of labor and expresses
an aromatic gene as an indicator of preterm
birth.
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How can we make bacteria sense hormones?
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Cell Receptors!
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Oxytocin Receptors (OXTR)

• Receptor for the hormone and neurotransmitter
• No known BioBrick parts
• BUT human oxytocin receptor gene was
  characterized in 1994
• Wed be able to isolate and work with it

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Estriol

• Form of estrogen produced by the placenta
• Serves as a direct marker of fetal adrenal gland
• Estrogen Receptor
• PartBBa_K123003
• derived from the Human Estrogen Receptor
  Alpha and optimized for activity in E. coli. When
  estrogen or an estrogen like compound is present
  the receptor binds to it and forms a homodimer.
  This homodimer is then able to bind to an
  Estrogen Responsive Element (ERE BBA_K123002). ..
  We have therefore designed this part to act as a
  repressor when bound to the ERE by physically
  blocking the polymerase.
• http//partsregistry.org/wiki/index.php/PartBBa_K
  123003

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Complications

• Easiest way to test for estriol level is using
  salivary samples
• Still trying to desgin a device that senses
  indicator proteins in vaginal secretions
• Is estriol present in vaginal secretions?

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Assuming it is

• Option 1
• Create one cell with both receptors
• Option 2
• Create two cells each with a different receptor

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Now that is senses these hormones how will it
indicate their presence and quantities?
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Indicators

• Possibility of aroma indicator
• (does NOT have to be banana)
• Color indicator

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Possibility of Color Indicator

• Instead of designing something to remain in
  vagina, maybe create strips to insert and do a
  one time reading or hormone levels
• Would ideally be a standard procedure for doctors
  to do
• Would allow for the existence of a baseline to
  compare levels to

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More things to think about

• The goal is still to create a super bacteria
  symptom sensor to serve as a more effective
  indicator of preterm labor
• Still have other labor symptoms to explore (i.e.
  cervix dilations, contractions)
• Differences in designing things to remain in the
  vagina vs. one-time sample strips
• What about women with multiple pregnancies?

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Other Applications

• Hormone sensing bacteria could be used in
  psychiatric studies, hormonal disorders,
  athletics
• Mechanical stress detection applications include
  bone regeneration and cell growth (from wiki).