Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39806069›Full record

ArticleNature chemical biology2025

A cell-free biosensor signal amplification circuit with polymerase strand recycling.

Yueyi Li, Tyler Lucci, Matias Villarruel Dujovne, Jaeyoung Kirsten Jung, Daiana A Capdevila, Julius B Lucks

Erratum issuedAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature chemical biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Spatially Encoded Protocell Network for Non-Cascaded Parallel Biocomputation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  2. Programming Next-Generation Synthetic Biosensors by Genetic Circuit Design.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yueyi LiDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-9041
Tyler LucciDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-7324-4799
Matias Villarruel DujovneFundación Instituto Leloir, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Jaeyoung Kirsten JungDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5180-0900
Daiana A CapdevilaFundación Instituto Leloir, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Julius B LucksDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jblucks@northwestern.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0619-6505

Funding

Developing Capacity to Evaluate Training Programs via Development of Human, Institutional and Social CapitalT32GM008449 · NIGMS · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · PI LEONARD, JOSHUA NATHANIEL · 1993 to 2023
$7.8M
National Science Foundation (NSF) 2021900NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM008449U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Office of Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health (OER) T32GM008449
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cell-free systems are powerful synthetic biology technologies that can recapitulate gene expression and sensing without the complications of living cells. Cell-free systems can perform more advanced functions when genetic circuits are incorporated. Here we expand cell-free biosensing by engineering a highly specific isothermal amplification circuit called polymerase strand recycling (PSR), which leverages T7 RNA polymerase off-target transcription to recycle nucleic acid inputs within DNA strand displacement circuits. We first construct simple PSR circuits to detect different RNA targets with high specificity. We then interface PSR circuits to amplify signals from allosteric transcription factor-based biosensors for small molecule detection. A double equilibrium model of transcription factor-DNA/ligand binding predicts that PSR can improve biosensor sensitivity, which we confirm experimentally by improving the limits of detection by 10-fold to submicromolar levels for two biosensors. We believe this work expands the capabilities of cell-free circuits and demonstrates PSR's potential for diverse applications in biotechnology.

Indexed as

Biosensing TechniquesDNA-Directed RNA PolymerasesNucleic Acid Amplification TechniquesViral ProteinsCell-Free SystemDNARNASynthetic BiologyTranscription Factorsbacteriophage T7 RNA polymeraseDNADNA-Directed RNA PolymerasesRNATranscription FactorsViral Proteins

Identifiers

PMID39806069
PMCPMC12124948

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.