SynSignal // Synthetic Cellular Signaling Circuits

Signaling systems allow the cell to perceive its environment to control and coordinate cellular activities accordingly. For example, cellular signaling systems are crucial for chemosensory detection, efficient homeostasis, proper development, immunity, and for cognitive processes in higher organisms. Errors in cellular signal perception and processing cause severe human pathologies including cancer, diabetes, and immune disorders.

The discovery of taste and smell related signaling systems in non-chemosensory tissues such as the gut, lung, and pancreas present new therapeutic options for disease treatments, and reinforce the traditional link between nutrition and health. In fact cellular signaling systems are the target for the majority of clinically used medicines and are also of crucial importance for the nutrition, flavor and fragrance industries.

Development times for new products across a broad range of industries that focus on cellular signaling are excessively long, with associated high costs. In addition, the lack of effective screening platforms for a number of high value industrial applications involving signaling has a severely adverse affect on innovation and discovery.

SynSignal will address these issues by providing new and sophisticated synthetic biology tools to overcome the challenges facing signaling-based product development in the pharmaceutical, flavour, fragrance and nutritional industries.

Download the SynSignal Factsheet

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 613879.