Genetic circuits are composed of input, logic, and output parts. Construction of complex circuits for practical applications requires numerous tunable genetic parts. However, the limited diversity and complicated tuning methods used for the input parts hinders the scalability of genetic circuits. Therefore, a new type of input part is required that responds to diverse signals and enables easy tuning. Here, we developed RNA–protein hybrid input parts that combine a riboswitch and orthogonal transcriptional repressors. The hybrid inputs successfully regulated the transcription of an output in response to the input signal detected by the riboswitch and resulted in signal inversion because of the expression of transcriptional repressors. Dose–response parameters including fold-change and half-maximal effective concentration were easily modulated and amplified simply by changing the promoter strength. Furthermore, the hybrid input detected both exogenous and endogenous signals, indicating potential applications in metabolite sensing. This hybrid input part could be highly extensible considering the rich variety of components.

中文翻译：

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使用Riboswitch和转录抑制器的新型混合输入部分用于信号反相放大器

遗传电路由输入，逻辑和输出部分组成。为实际应用构建复杂电路需要大量可调的遗传部分。然而，用于输入部分的有限多样性和复杂的调节方法阻碍了遗传电路的可扩展性。因此，需要一种新型的输入部件，它能够响应各种信号并易于调整。在这里，我们开发了结合了核糖开关和正交转录阻遏物的RNA蛋白混合输入部分。混合输入根据核糖开关检测到的输入信号成功调节了输出的转录，由于转录阻遏物的表达，导致信号反转。剂量反应参数，包括倍数变化和最大有效浓度的一半，很容易通过改变启动子强度来调节和放大。此外，混合输入检测到外源和内源信号，表明在代谢物检测中的潜在应用。考虑到组件的多样性，该混合输入部分可以高度扩展。