Expression and Secretion of a Cellulomonas fimi Exoglucanase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We used the yeast MEL1 gene for secreted alpha-galactosidase to construct cartridges for the regulated expression of foreign proteins from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene for a Cellulomonas fimi beta-1,4-exoglucanase was inserted into one cartridge to create a fusion of the alpha-galactosidase signal peptide to the exoglucanase. Yeast transformed with plasmids containing this construction produced active extracellular exoglucanase when grown under conditions appropriate to MEL1 promoter function. The cells also produced active intracellular enzyme. The secreted exoglucanase was N-glycosylated and was produced continuously during culture growth. It hydrolyzed xylan, carboxymethyl cellulose, 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-d-cellobiose, and p-nitrophenyl-beta-d-cellobiose. A comparison of the recombinant S. cerevisiae enzyme with the native C. fimi enzyme showed the yeast version to have an identical K(m) and pH optimum but to be more thermostable.     

Highly efficient secretion of heterologous proteins from Saccharomyces cerevisiae using inulinase signal peptides

The INU genes of Kluyveromyces marxianus encode inulinases which are readily secreted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae into the culture medium. To evaluate the utility of the INU signal peptides for the secretion of heterologous proteins from S. cerevisiae, a variety of expression and secretion vectors were constructed with GAL10 promoter and GAL7 terminator. The coding sequence for human lipocortin-1 (LC1) was inserted in-frame with the INU signal sequences, and then the secretion efficiency and localization of LC1 were investigated in more detail and compared with those when being expressed by the vector with the MFalpha1 leader peptide. The vector systems with INU signal peptides secreted ca. 95% of the total LC1 expressed into the extracellular medium, while the MFalpha1 leader peptide-containing vector resulted in very low secretion efficiency below 10%. In addition, recombinant human interleukin-2 (IL-2) was expressed and secreted with the vector systems with INU signal peptide, and a majority fraction of the human IL-2 expressed was found to be secreted into the extracellular medium as observed in LC1 expression. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Overexpression of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RER2 gene in Trichoderma reesei affects dolichol dependent enzymes and protein glycosylation

Protein secretion in Trichoderma reesei could be stimulated by overexpression of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae DPM1 gene encoding dolichyl phosphate mannose synthase (DPMS) a key enzyme in the O-glycosylation pathway. The secreted proteins were glycosylated to the wild type level. On the other hand, the elevated concentration of GDP-mannose, a direct substrate for DPMS, resulting from overexpression in T. reesei of the mpg1 gene coding for guanyltransferase, did not affect secretion of proteins but did affect the degree of their O- and N-glycosylation. In this paper, we examined the effects of dolichol, an indispensable carrier of sugar residues in protein glycosylation, on the synthesis of glycosylated proteins. An increase in dolichol synthesis was obtained by overexpression of the yeast gene encoding cis-prenyltransferase, the first enzyme of the mevalonate pathway committed to dolichol biosynthesis. We observed that, an increased concentration of dolichol resulted in an increased expression of the dpm1 gene and DPMS activity and in overglycosylation of secreted proteins.     

The conformation of mature human alpha-amylase conditions its secretion from yeast

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae expresses the cloned cDNA (Amy) encoding human salivary alpha-amylase (Amy) under control of the yeast PHO5 promoter, and secretes the active enzyme into the culture medium. Two approaches were utilized to define the moiety of Amy, which is required for proper secretion and glycosylation. In one approach, chimeras were constructed with a variety of secretion signal sequences (yeast mating factor precursor sequence, yeast acid phosphatase signal sequence and human gastrin signal sequence) fused to the secretion signal-deleted Amy cDNA. The other approach involved analysis of a set of deletion series and a set of point mutations in the Amy-encoding region. The results showed that heterologous signal sequences were sufficient for proper secretion in yeast, irrespective of the insertion of some extra amino acids. In most cases, enzymes with deletions and Cys-465 substitution were not secreted, even though they had complete secretion signal sequences. Instead, they accumulated in the cell in a glycosylated form. Thus, proper secretion seems to require an appropriate conformation in the polypeptide moiety to be secreted.     

Optimal conditions for the analysis of Pasteurella haemolytica lipopolysaccharide by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

Monomeric human calcitonin (hCT) gene and oligomeric hCT genes composed of two, three or four head-to-tail linked monomers were fused in-frame to the yeast alpha-factor leader coding sequence wild-type and fragile mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were transformed with the constructed plasmids and the yield of recombinant protein secreted into the culture medium was measured. The yeast cells secreted equal (molar) amounts of all of the hCT variants. The recombinant proteins remained stable in the growth medium for at least 3 days. The fragile cells secreted about 30% more hCT as compared to the wild-type yeast cells.     

Enhanced secretion of heterologous proteins from yeast by overexpression of ribosomal subunit RPP0

Previously, we have shown that single-gene overexpression of five yeast genes (CCW12, CWP2, ERO1, RPP0, and SED1) promoted increased secretion levels of several single-chain antibody fragments and single-chain T-cell receptors from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Wentz, A. E.; Shusta, E. V. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2007, 73, (4), 1189-1198). In this study, several proteins possessing different protein folds were secreted from yeast overexpressing each of the five genes to determine the generality of the secretion enhancers. Only one gene encoding a ribosomal subunit (RPP0) enhanced secretion levels for multiple proteins: a single-chain antibody (the 4-4-20 anti-fluorescein scFv) and green fluorescent protein (GFP). Protein induction time-course experiments revealed increased secretion with RPP0 overexpression for 4-4-20 as early as 40 h post-induction. Effects on GFP secretion levels were not evident until late induction times where overexpression of RPP0 limited post-secretion protein loss, but absolute yields did not exceed those observed at earlier induction times. The effects of RPP0 overexpression on secreted protein yields did not appear to directly involve ribosome function, but instead RPP0 overexpression indirectly regulated acidification of the yeast medium by preventing upregulation of the yeast plasma membrane H+-ATPase gene, PMA1. Combining RPP0 overexpression with nutrient supplementation stimulated additional protein secretion for the 4-4-20 scFv with higher per cell secretion that corresponded to 6-fold increases in volumetric yield.     

High‐level expression of Aspergillus niger β‐galactosidase in Ashbya gossypii

Ashbya gossypii has been recently considered as a host for the expression of recombinant proteins. The production levels achieved thus far were similar to those obtained with Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the same proteins. Here, the β‐galactosidase from Aspergillus niger was successfully expressed and secreted by A. gossypii from 2‐µm plasmids carrying the native signal sequence at higher levels than those secreted by S. cerevisiae laboratorial strains. Four different constitutive promoters were used to regulate the expression of β‐galactosidase: A. gossypii AgTEF and AgGPD promoters, and S. cerevisiae ScADH1 and ScPGK1 promoters. The native AgTEF promoter drove the highest expression levels of recombinant β‐galactosidase in A. gossypii, leading to 2‐ and 8‐fold higher extracellular activity than the AgGPD promoter and the heterologous promoters, respectively. In similar production conditions, the levels of active β‐galactosidase secreted by A. gossypii were up to 37 times higher than those secreted by recombinant S. cerevisiae and ～2.5 times higher than those previously reported for the β‐galactosidase‐high producing S. cerevisiae NCYC869‐A3/pVK1.1. The substitution of glucose by glycerol in the production medium led to a 1.5‐fold increase in the secretion of active β‐galactosidase by A. gossypii. Recombinant β‐galactosidase secreted by A. gossypii was extensively glycosylated, as are the native A. niger β‐galactosidase and recombinant β‐galactosidase produced by yeast. These results highlight the potential of A. gossypii as a recombinant protein producer and open new perspectives to further optimize recombinant protein secretion in this fungus. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 30:261–268, 2014     

Identification of eukaryotic secreted and cell surface proteins using the yeast secretion trap screen

Secreted and cell surface proteins play essential roles in numerous essential biological processes in eukaryotic organisms, but are often more difficult to isolate and identify than proteins that are localized in intracellular compartments. However, several high-throughput 'gene-trap' techniques have been developed to characterize these 'secretomes', including the yeast secretion trap (YST) screen. This method involves fusing cDNA libraries from the tissue or cell type of interest to a yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) invertase reporter gene, transforming the resulting fusion library into an invertase-deficient yeast strain and plating the transformants on a medium containing sucrose as the sole carbon source. A yeast cell with a transgene encoding a secreted or cell surface protein can synthesize a secreted invertase fusion protein that can rescue the mutant, and the plasmid DNA can then be sequenced to identify the gene that encodes it. We describe a recently improved version of this screen, which allows the identification of genes encoding secreted proteins in 1-2 months.     

Synthesis and secretion of human nerve growth factor by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The DNA coding for human nerve growth factor (hNGF) was chemically synthesized and introduced into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Expression and secretion of hNGF was obtained by use of the yeast phosphoglycerate kinase-encoding gene promoter and the pre-pro sequence of the yeast alpha-mating factor. Immunoblotting with antiserum raised against a protein A-hNGF fusion protein, allowed the detection of an immunoreactive material secreted into the culture medium. A preparation from the culture medium, partially purified by ion-exchange column chromatography, stimulated neurite outgrowth from rat pheochromocytoma PC12h cells.     

A novel leader peptide which allows efficient secretion of a fragment of human interleukin 1 beta in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Killer strains of Kluyveromyces lactis secrete a toxin which presumably is processed during secretion from a larger precursor. Analysis of the sequence of the K. lactis killer toxin gene predicts that the first 16 amino acids at the amino terminus of the protein should represent its leader peptide. We have tested the capability of this leader peptide to direct secretion of a protein fused to it by inserting a synthetic oligonucleotide identical to the sequence of the putative leader peptide into a yeast expression vector. Subsequently, the cDNA coding for the secreted active portion of the human interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) was fused to the leader peptide sequence of the killer toxin. This construction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is capable of directing synthesis and secretion of correctly processed IL-1 beta into the culture medium.     

Effects of inactivation and constitutive expression of the unfolded- protein response pathway on protein production in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

One strategy to obtain better yields of secreted proteins has been overexpression of single endoplasmic reticulum-resident foldases or chaperones. We report here that manipulation of the unfolded-protein response (UPR) pathway regulator, HAC1, affects production of both native and foreign proteins in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The effects of HAC1 deletion and overexpression on the production of a native protein, invertase, and two foreign proteins, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylase and Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase EGI, were studied. Disruption of HAC1 caused decreases in the secretion of both alpha-amylase (70 to 75% reduction) and EGI (40 to 50% reduction) compared to the secretion by the parental strain. Constitutive overexpression of HAC1 caused a 70% increase in alpha-amylase secretion but had no effect on EGI secretion. The invertase levels were twofold higher in the strain overexpressing HAC1. Also, the effect of the active form of T. reesei hac1 was tested in S. cerevisiae. hac1 expression caused a 2.4-fold increase in the secretion of alpha-amylase in S. cerevisiae and also slight increases in invertase and total protein production. Overexpression of both S. cerevisiae HAC1 and T. reesei hac1 caused an increase in the expression of the known UPR target gene KAR2 at early time points during cultivation.     

The use of genetic engineering to obtain efficient production of porcine pancreatic phospholipase A2 by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have developed an efficient production system for porcine pancreatic phospholipase A2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast). The cDNA encoding the prophospholipase A2 was expressed under the control of the galactose inducible GAL7 promotor, and secretion was directed by the secretion signals of yeast invertase. This construct yielded up to 6 mg prophospholipase A2 activity per 1 fermentation broth, secreted as a glycosylated invertase prophospholipase A2 hybrid protein. Upon genetically deleting the glycosylation site, the level of secretion decreased to 3.6 mg prophospholipase A2 per 1. Changing the invertase secretion signals for an invertase/alpha-mating factor prepro sequence-fusion increased the secretion level up to 8 mg per 1. The secreted non-glycosylated prophospholipase A2 species was correctly processed. Our results demonstrate the promises and limitations for rational design to obtain high level expression and secretion of heterologous proteins by S. cerevisiae.     

Effect of EPS1 gene deletion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the secretion of foreign proteins which have disulfide bridges

Both amyloid-prone cystatin and unstable mutant C94A lysozyme were secreted in wild-type and Deltaeps1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Amyloid-prone cystatin secreted at much higher level in Deltaeps1 cells than that in wild-type yeast. In parallel, the secretion amount of disulfide bond disrupted mutant C94A lysozyme greatly increased in Deltaeps1 cells although that was apparently low in wild-type yeast cells compared with the secretion amount of wild-type lysozyme. It is interesting that neither the unstable mutant C94A lysozyme nor amyloid-prone cystatin secreted in Deltaeps1 cells maintained their specific activities. These observations lead to the supposition that yeast cells deficient for the protein disulfide isomerase-family-member EPS1 locus secrete more of labile disulfide-containing model proteins.     

Protein secretion from Saccharomyces cerevisiae directed by the prepro-alpha-factor leader region

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae secretory process was studied by evaluating secretion efficiency, processing efficiency, and the efficiency of protein folding for hybrid proteins containing the yeast prepro-alpha-factor leader region. Secretion of three proteins, beta-endorphin, calcitonin, and a consensus alpha-interferon (IFN-Con1), were compared in terms of secretion efficiency into the culture medium, beta-Endorphin and calcitonin, both small proteins, were found to be efficiently secreted from logarithmically grown cells. In contrast, the larger IFN-Con1 accumulated in the periplasmic space and cell wall. The glycosylated, unprocessed prepro-alpha-factor/IFN-Con1 fusion protein was also found to be secreted into the culture medium. The presence of (Glu-Ala) dipeptides in the alpha-factor spacer peptide increased the efficiency of cleavage at Lys-Arg in the prepro-alpha-factor/IFN-Con1 protein fusion. Purified secreted IFN-Con1 was structurally characterized to determine the effect of passage through the yeast secretory pathway on the fidelity and efficiency of protein folding. The disulfide structure of the secreted protein was found to be identical with that reported for the native human alpha-interferons.     

Yeast polypeptide fusion surface display levels predict thermal stability and soluble secretion efficiency.

Efficiency of yeast cell surface display can serve as a proxy screening variable for enhanced thermal stability and soluble secretion efficiency of mutant proteins. Several single-chain T cell receptor (scTCR) single-site mutants that enable yeast surface display, along with their double and triple mutant combinations, were analyzed for soluble secretion from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. While secretion of the wild-type scTCR was not detected, each of the single, double, and triple mutants were produced in yeast supernatants, with increased expression resulting from the double and triple mutants. Soluble secretion levels were strongly correlated with the quantity of active scTCR displayed as a fusion to Aga2p on the surface of yeast. Thermal stability of the scTCR mutants correlated directly with the secreted and surface levels of scTCR, with evidence suggesting that intracellular proteolysis by the endoplasmic reticulum quality control apparatus dictates display efficiency. Thus, yeast display is a directed evolution scaffold that can be used for the identification of mutant eucaryotic proteins with significantly enhanced stability and secretion properties.     

Identification of the essential EPE1 gene involved in retention of secreted proteins on the cell surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells secrete extracellularly low amounts of a few proteins. The reasons for retardation of secreted proteins on the cell surface remain obscure. We describe here a mutant able to export enhanced amount of proteins. Classical genetic methods, nucleic acids manipulations and cloning procedures were used to isolate and characterize the mutant and to clone and sequence the corresponding wild type gene. The isolated Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant MW11, is temperature sensitive and exports on average twenty-fold more proteins at 37 degrees C than parental wild type strain (80 micrograms of proteins/1 x 10(8) mutant cells, SEM +/- 5, n22; versus 3 micrograms of proteins/1 x 10(8) parental cells, SEM +/- 1, n22). Protein overexport in the mutant requires a functional SEC1 pathway and is independent of cell lysis. Cloning and sequencing of the corresponding wild type gene identified an open reading frame of 786 bp coding for a hydrophilic protein with predicted molecular mass of 30 kDa and cytosolic localization. The newly identified gene, designated EPE1, is an essential gene. Its DNA and amino acids sequence showed no homology with other yeast genes and proteins. It is concluded that the function of unknown yet genes, such as EPE1 is needed for retention of secreted proteins on the surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells.     

Analysis of the alpha-amylase gene of Schwanniomyces occidentalis and the secretion of its gene product in transformants of different yeast genera

We have cloned and characterized the alpha-amylase gene (AMY1) of the yeast Schwanniomyces occidentalis. A cosmid gene library of S. occidentalis DNA was screened in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for alpha-amylase secretion. The positive clone contained a DNA fragment harbouring an open reading frame of 1536 nucleotides coding for a 512-amino-acid polypeptide with a calculated Mr of 56,500. The deduced amino acid sequence reveals significant similarity to the sequence of the Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Aspergillus oryzae alpha-amylases. The AMY l gene was found to be expressed from its original promoter in S. cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces lactis and Schizo-saccharomyces pombe leading to an active secreted gene product and thus enabling the different yeast transformants to grow on starch as a sole carbon source.     

Polymorphic extracellular glucoamylase genes and their evolutionary origin in the yeast Saccharomyces diastaticus.

DNA coding for extracellular glucoamylase genes STA1 and STA3 was isolated from DNA libraries of two Saccharomyces diastaticus strains, each carrying STA1 or STA3. Cells transformed with a plasmid carrying either the STA1 or STA3 gene secreted glucoamylases having the same enzymatic and immunological properties and the same electrophoretic mobilities in acrylamide gel electrophoresis as those of authentic glucoamylases. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA from S. diastaticus and a glucoamylase-non-secreting yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, revealed that the STA1 and STA3 loci of S. diastaticus showed a high degree of homology, and that both yeast species (S. diastaticus and S. cerevisiae) contained DNA segments highly homologous to those of the extracellular glucoamylase genes. Restriction maps of the homologous DNA segments suggested that the extracellular glucoamylase genes of S. diastaticus may have arisen from recombination among the resident DNA segments in S. cerevisiae.     

Molecular analysis of alpha-galactosidase MEL genes from Saccharomyces sensu stricto

To infer the molecular evolution of yeast Saccharomyces sensu stricto from analysis of the alpha-galactosidase MEL gene family, two new genes were cloned and sequenced from S. bayanus var. bayanus and S. pastorianus. Nucleotide sequence homology of the MEL genes of S. bayanus var. bayanus (MELb), S. pastorianus (MELpt), S. bayanus var. uvarum (MELu), and S. carlsbergensis (MELx) was rather high (94.1-99.3%), comparable with interspecific homology (94.8-100%) of S. cerevisiae MEL1-MEL11. Homology of the MEL genes of sibling species S. cerevisiae (MEL1), S. bayanus (MELb), S. paradoxus (MELp), and S. mikatae (MELj) was 76.2-81.7%, suggesting certain species specificity. On this evidence, the alpha-galactosidase gene of hybrid yeast S. pastorianus (S. carlsbergensis) was assumed to originate from S. bayanus rather than from S. cerevisiae.