Abstract:

In cell biology, receptors are biological macromolecules that can bind to hormones, drugs, signaling molecules, and other ligands inside cells or on their surfaces, thereby causing changes in the functions of these cells. With the rapid development of biology, signal pathways and molecular mechanisms, such as the recognition and transport of various natural and unnatural compounds in cells, have been gradually elucidated. Biological targets, for example, enzymes, ion channels and transporters, can be classified as receptors in a broad sense. Similar to antibody-antigen, the receptor-ligand binding also shows high affinity, specificity and saturation, leading to its potential applications in the fast detection for food safety. Here, we briefly introduce the classification of receptors and the relationship between receptors and ligands. The preparations of receptor proteins, including the selection of chassis organisms such as E. coli, yeast, insect cells and mammalian cells for protein mass production, the utilization of cell-free translational systems, the process of protein expression and functional improvement, are also summarized. The main topic of this article is to review the research progress of receptor-based screening and analytical methods in fast detection for food safety, such as antibiotic residues, pesticide residues, illegal use of additives, biotoxins and biological pollutants. In addition, we also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of receptor-binding assays compared to antibody-based analytic methods, and highlight the current bottlenecks for the receptor-binding assay and possible solutions. Finally, we prospect the development of synthetic receptors in the application for food safety assurance. The directed evolution of receptor proteins that is based on rational design, the further exploitation and wide utilization of potential receptors, and the combination of multidisciplinary technologies will provide a driving force for the development and promotion of the receptor-based analytical methods. Such methods have great potential, and will be used in research or for commercial purpose accordingly.

Key words: synthetic biology, receptor protein, food safety, contaminant, detection and analysis

摘要：

在细胞生物学中，受体是指在细胞表面或细胞内任何能够与激素、药物、信号分子等配体结合，从而引起细胞功能变化的生物大分子。随着生物学的快速发展，各种天然的、非天然的化合物在细胞中的识别、转运等信号通路及分子作用机制已被逐渐解析。酶、离子通道、转运蛋白等生物靶标都可以归类为广义上的受体。类似于抗体-抗原，受体-配体反应同样具有高亲和力、高特异性和高饱和，在食品安全快速检测领域有一定的发展潜力。受体蛋白的定向进化设计、潜在受体的开发利用以及多学科技术的交叉互融是受体生物传感分析方法发展的巨大推动力。本文简单介绍了受体的分类以及受体-配体的关系，概述了合成生物学中不同底盘生物对受体蛋白量产化的偏好性，回顾了基于受体蛋白的筛查分析方法在食品安全检测相关领域的研究进展，如抗生素残留、农药残留、非法使用添加剂、生物毒素及生物性污染等。最后，探讨了受体结合测定法的优缺点，分析了目前基于受体的分析方法所面临的瓶颈问题和可能的解决方式，展望了合成受体在食品安全检测应用领域中的发展方向。

关键词: 合成生物学, 受体蛋白, 食品安全, 污染物, 检测分析