Cyanogen bromide cleavage of proteins in salt and buffer solutions

Protocols for recombinant polypeptide production should provide high yields and be efficient, user friendly, and time saving. To perform cyanogen bromide (CNBr) cleavage of fusion proteins, the majority of researchers first desalted and vacuum-dried samples and then dissolved them in aqueous formic or trifluoroacetic acid. We propose to exclude the desalting step and run CNBr cleavage directly. We show that the commonly used Tris-HCl, sodium phosphate, NaCl, imidazole, and guanidine-HCl do not interfere with the reaction under acidic conditions. Omitting the desalting step does not decrease the final yields of target products, as demonstrated for fusion proteins of different origin and composition.     

Chemical analysis of major outer membrane proteins of Neisseria meningitidis: comparison of serotypes 2 and 11

Most of the 15 protein serotypes found in group B Neisseria meningitidis have distinct major outer membrane protein patterns when examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) by the Weber-Osborn system. Both serotypes 2 and 11 contain major outer membrane proteins with apparent molecular weights of 41,000 and 28,000 (41K and 28K). The 41K and 28K proteins were purified from the prototype strains of these two serotypes (M986 type 2 and M136 type 11) by preparative slab SDS-PAGE and were chemically characterized. No hexosamine was found in the purified 41K and 28K proteins. Although the two 41K proteins had similar amino acid compositions, their mobilities in Laemmli SDS-PAGE and their fragmentation patterns on SDS-PAGE after cyanogen bromide cleavage were different. The two 28K proteins differed in their amino acid composition, mobilities in Laemmli SDS-PAGE, and cyanogen bromide cleavage products. Peptide maps following chymotrypsin digestion of radioiodinated 41K and 28K proteins revealed distinct peptide maps for all four proteins. Comparison of the peptide maps of two 41K or two 28K proteins indicated that most of the unique peptides were hydrophilic, whereas most of the common peptides were hydrophobic. These results indicated that both of the 41K proteins and the 28K proteins from serotypes 2 and 11 were chemically different, although the proteins having the same molecular weights appeared to share common peptides.     

A PagP fusion protein system for the expression of intrinsically disordered proteins in Escherichia coli

PagP, a beta-barrel membrane protein found in Gram-negative bacteria, expresses robustly in inclusion bodies when its signal sequence is removed. We have developed a new fusion protein expression system based on PagP and demonstrated its utility in the expression of the unstructured N-terminal region of human cardiac troponin I (residues 1-71). A yield of 100mg fusion protein per liter M9 minimal media was obtained. The troponin I fragment was removed from PagP using cyanogen bromide cleavage at methionine residues followed by nickel affinity chromatography. We further demonstrate that optimal cleavage requires complete reduction of methionine residues prior to cyanogen bromide treatment, and this is effectively accomplished using potassium iodide under acidic conditions. The PagP-based fusion protein system is more effective at targeting proteins into inclusion bodies than a commercially available system that uses ketosteroid isomerase; it thus represents an important advance for producing large quantities of unfolded peptides or proteins in Escherichia coli.     

Porcine pancreatic lipase. Sequence of the first 234 amino acids of the peptide chain.

The single polypeptide chain of about 460 amino acids of porcine pancreatic lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) has been fragmented into five peptides by cyanogen bromide cleavage [Rovery, M., Bianchetta, J. & Guidoni, A. (1973) Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 328, 391--395]. The sequence of the first three cyanogen bromide peptides (CNI, CNII, CNIII), including a total of 234 amino acids, was fully elucidated. Automatic or manual Edman degradation was performed on the different peptides. Fragmentations of the CN peptides were accomplished by digestions with trypsin (after citraconylation or 1,2-cyclohexanedione treatment), chymotrypsin and Staphylococcus aureus external protease. Hydrolysis of unreduced material by pepsin and thermolysin, performed in order to determine the S-S bridge positions, provided useful overlapping peptides. The glycan moiety of lipase is bound to Asn-166. The non-essential tyrosine specifically blocked by diisopropylphosphorofluoridate is Tyr-49 in a cluster of asparagine and glutamine residues. The existence of a highly hydrophobic sequence (206--217) at the C terminus of the CNII fragment is noteworthy.     

Primary structure of the elongation factor G from Escherichia coli. IX. Structure of peptides generated by cyanogen bromide cleavage of the G-factor isolated on thiol-activated sepharose and of the products of the G-factor cleavage at Asp-Pro bonds. Complete primary structure

The amino acid sequence of cysteine- and cystine-containing peptides resulting from cleavage of the G-factor by cyanogen bromide has been determined. For structure analysis cyanogen bromide peptides were further degradated using trypsin, chymotrypsin, thermolysin, staphylococcal glutamic protease, or limited acid hydrolysis. The products of the G-factor cleavage at Asp-Pro bonds were also studied. The obtained data together with those published earlier permitted to establish the complete primary structure of the elongation factor G. The polypeptide chain consists of 701 amino acid residues and has molecular mass of 77321,46.     

Primary structure of 20S,22R-cholesterol-hydroxylating cytochrome P-450 from bovine adrenal cortex mitochondria. IV. Structure of peptides of thermolytic and limited tryptic hydrolysis of the fragment F1; peptides of cyanogen bromide hydrolysis of cytochrome P-450. Complete amino acid sequence

A thermolytic hydrolysis of maleinated fragment F1 has been performed, resulted in isolation of 44 peptides; their complete amino acid sequence has been determined. Non-overlapping thermolytic peptides of fragment F1 involve 178 amino acid residues, which comprises about 71% of its amino acid sequence. Also, the cleavage and structural investigation of some tryptophan-containing peptides obtained from the limited trypsinolysis of fragment F1 were carried out; reconstitution of the polypeptide chain of the fragment is completed. The cyanogen bromide cleavage of carboxymethylated cytochrome P-450 was achieved and 17 peptides, comprising almost the whole polypeptide chain of the protein molecule (91%), was isolated. To investigate structure of the cyanogen bromide peptides, we hydrolysed them at tryptophan residues with trypsin, chymotrypsin, proteinase from Staphylococcus aureus, and BNPS-skatole. The data obtained and those published earlier led to the complete primary structure of the cholesterol-hydroxylating cytochrome P-450. The proteins polypeptide chain consists of 481 amino acid residues and has the precise molecular mass 56 407.7.     

Mass spectrometric analysis of cyanogen bromide fragments of integral membrane proteins at the picomole level: application to rhodopsin

Advances in time-of-flight mass spectrometry allow unit mass resolution of proteins and peptides up to about 6000 Da molecular weight. Identification of larger proteins and study of their posttranslational or experimental modifications by mass analysis is greatly enhanced by cleavage into smaller fragments. Most membrane proteins are difficult to mass analyze because of their high hydrophobicity, typical expression in low quantities, and because the detergents commonly used for solubilization may be deleterious to mass analysis. Cleavage with cyanogen bromide is beneficial for analysis of membrane proteins since the methionine cleavage sites are typically located in hydrophobic domains and cleavage at these points reduces the size of the hydrophobic fragments. Cyanogen bromide also gives high cleavage yields and introduces only volatile contaminants. Even after cleavage membrane proteins often contain fragments that are difficult to chromatograph. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) is capable of analyzing complex mixtures without chromatography. We present a MALDI MS method that quickly and reliably identifies the cyanogen bromide fragments and posttranslational modifications of reduced and alkylated bovine rhodopsin from as little as 30 pmol of rhodopsin in detergent-solubilized retinal rod disk membranes, using 1-5 pmol of digest per sample. The amino acid sequences of some of the peptides in the digest were confirmed by post source decomposition MS analysis of the same samples. The method appears to be general and applicable to the analysis of membrane proteins and the protein composition of membrane preparations.     

A fusion protein system for the recombinant production of short disulfide bond rich cystine knot peptides using barnase as a purification handle

The inhibitor cystine knot (ICK) structural motif has been found in several small proteins and peptides from plants, insects, marine molluscs, and also in human. It is defined by a triple beta-sheet that is held together by three intramolecular disulfide bonds built by six conserved cysteine residues that generate a highly rigid and stable fold. We describe a procedure for the production of ICK peptides with correct disulfide bond connectivities via expression in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins with an enzymatically inactive variant of the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens RNAse barnase. Barnase directs the fused peptide to the culture medium and the fusion protein can be isolated by combined cation exchange/reverse-phase chromatography. The ICK peptides are released from the barnase expression and purification handle either by cyanogen bromide or by protease cleavage to give pure and correctly folded cystine knot peptides.     

The primary structure of the Chloroflexus aurantiacus reaction-center polypeptides

The complete nucleotide sequence of two Chloroflexus aurantiacus reaction-center genes has been obtained. The amino acid sequence deduced from the first gene showed 40% similarity to the L subunit of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction center. This L subunit was 310 amino acids long and had an approximate molecular mass of 35 kDa. The second gene began 17 bases downstream from the first gene. The amino acid sequence deduced from it (307 amino acids; 34950 Da) was 42% similar to the M subunit of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction center. 20% of the deduced primary structure were confirmed through automated Edman degradation of cyanogen bromide peptide fragments or N-chlorosuccinimide peptide fragments isolated from the purified reaction-center complex or from the individual subunits. The peptides were isolated by preparative gel electrophoresis combined with molecular sieve chromatography in the presence of a mixture of formic acid, acetonitrile, 2-propanol and water. This method appeared to be applicable to the isolation of other hydrophobic proteins and their peptides.     

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-specific glutamate dehydrogenase of Neurospora. VI. Isolation and sequences of eighteen fragments from the cyanogen bromide digest.

The 1030-residue polypeptide chain of the NAD-specific glutamate dehydrogenase of Neurospora crassa was fragmented by treatment with cyanogen bromide. The isolation and sequences of 18 fragments ranging in size from 4 to 51 residues are described. Some of these peptides proved to be cleavage products resulting from hydrolysis at acid-sensitive aspartyl-prolyl bonds. Some overlaps could be deduced on the basis of known sequences of peptides obtained by tryptic hydrolysis.     

A fusion protein system for the recombinant production of short disulfide-containing peptides

A recombinant fusion protein system for the production, oxidation, and purification of short peptides containing a single disulfide bond is described. The peptides are initially expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion to an engineered mutant of the N-terminal SH2 domain of the intracellular phosphatase, SHP-2. This small protein domain confers several important properties which facilitate the production of disulfide-containing peptides: (i) it is expressed at high levels in E. coli; (ii) it can be purified via a hexahistidine tag and reverse-phase HPLC; (iii) it contains no endogenous cysteine residues, allowing the formation of an intrapeptide disulfide bond while still attached to the fusion partner; (iv) it is highly soluble in native buffers, facilitating the production of very hydrophobic peptides and the direct use of fusion products in biochemical assays; (v) it contains a unique methionine residue at the junction of the peptide and fusion partner to facilitate peptide cleavage by treatment with cyanogen bromide (CNBr). This method is useful for producing peptides, which are otherwise difficult to prepare through traditional chemical synthesis approaches, and this has been demonstrated by preparing a number of hydrophobic disulfide-containing peptides derived from phage-display libraries.     

Primary structure of the elongation factor G from Escherichia coli. VII. Study of peptides generated during hydrolysis of the T4 fragment by glutamic proteinase from Staphylococcus aureus

For fragment T4, obtained on limited trypsinolysis of the G-factor, the amino acid sequence embracing 76% of its structure has been determined by analysis of peptides resulting from the fragment T4 cleavage with staphylococcal glutamic protease. These data permitted to assemble into one polypeptide chain 7 out of 12 earlier characterized cyanogen bromide peptides contained in the fragment T4.     

Primary structure of the OSCP protein that confers sensitivity to oligomycin on the mitochondrial H+-ATPase complex. I. Tryptic and cyanogen bromide peptides

Trypsin and cyanogen bromide were used for cleavage of the OSCP preparations. The peptide mixtures thus formed were separated into individual components by a combination of various chromatographic procedures: gel filtration, ion exchange and paper chromatography, as well as reversed-phase HPLC. As a result, 31 tryptic peptides and 9 out of 10 possible cyanogen bromide peptides were isolated. Determination of the amino acid sequences of these peptide allowed the alignment of cyanogen bromide fragments in the polypeptide chain that shed light on the "architecture" of the protein molecule as a whole. It also afforded the overlappings for tryptic peptides, 16 in the N-terminal and 8 in the C-terminal portions of the molecule.     

Amino acid sequence of the Pseudomonas putida cytochrome P-450. I. Sequences of tryptic and clostripain peptides

In order to elucidate the complete amino acid sequence of Pseudomonas putida cytochrome P-450, tryptic digestion was performed on the S-carboxymethylated enzyme. Although cleavage did not occur at every lysyl and arginyl bond, 31 tryptic peptides ranging in size from 1 to 55 residues were isolated. These were sequenced by manual Edman degradation and carboxypeptidase digestion. Overlaps of some od these tryptic peptides were obtained by data obtained from partial Edman degradation and amino acid composition of the clostripain cleavage products. These results, together with data from the cyanogen bromide and acid cleavage peptides reported in the accompanying paper, established the complete amino acid sequence of P. putida cytochrome P-450.     

Structural studies on rabbit skeletal muscle actin. Ordering of the peptides produced by cleavage with cyanogen bromide.

The 17 peptides produced by cleavage of actin with cyanogen bromide have been ordered with regard to their sequence in the actin molecule. Tryptic digestion of actin followed by isolation of the methionine-containing "overlap" peptides permitted the unique alignment of most, but not all of the cyanogen bromide peptides. However, maleylation of the actin molecule followed by tryptic digestion and isolation of methionine-containing peptides from maleylated actin permitted the proper placement of the remaining cyanogen bromide peptides. The ordering of cyanogen bromide peptides, together with the amino acid sequence of the individual peptides, constitutes the entire amino acid sequence of rabbit skeletal muscle actin (ELZINGA, M., COLLINS, J. H., KUEHL, W. M., and ADENLSTEIN, R. S. (1973) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 70,2687-2691).     

Primary structure of the elongation factor G from Escherichia coli. V. Amino acid sequence of the C-terminal domain

The amino acid sequence of the C-terminal domain of the elongation factor G (EF-G) has been studied. The polypeptide chain of the domain consists of 228 amino acid residues, and contains no tryptophan or cysteine residues. To determine its structure, the peptides obtained as a result of the fragment digestion by staphylococcal glutamic protease, cyanogen bromide cleavage, and tryptic hydrolysis of the fragment modified by maleic anhydride have been analyzed, as well as peptides obtained after hydrolyses of cyanogen bromide fragments with chymotrypsin, thermolysin and trypsin.     

Histidine decarboxylase of Lactobacillus 30a. Sequences of the cyanogen bromide peptides from the alpha chain

The alpha chain of histidine decarboxylase contains eight internal methionine residues. After reductive amination to convert the NH2-terminal pyruvoyl residue to an alanyl residue and cyanogen bromide treatment, 13 pure peptides were isolated. Four of these are incomplete cleavage products. The sequence of each of the remaining nine peptides was established by automated and manual degradation of the intact peptides and of smaller peptides obtained from tryptic, chymotryptic, and staphylococcal protease digests of the cyanogen bromide peptides. These results, together with the data on overlapping peptides reported in the accompanying paper (Huynh, Q. K., Recsei, P. A., Vaaler, G. L., and Snell, E. E. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 2833-2839), establish the complete amino acid sequence of the alpha chain.     

The amino acid sequence of plastocyanin from Vicia faba L. (broad bean)

The amino acid sequence of plastocyanin from broad bean was determined. It consists of a single polypeptide chain of 99 residues. The sequence was determined by using a Beckman 890C sequencer and by dansyl-phenyl isothiocyanate analysis of peptides obtained by the enzymic cleavage of purified cyanogen bromide fragments. Some parts of the sequence depend on the results of Edman degradation of peptides for which amino acid analyses were not obtained. The evidence for one overlap is not strong.     

Mapping the eosinophil cationic protein antimicrobial activity by chemical and enzymatic cleavage

The eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) is a human antimicrobial protein involved in the host immune defense that belongs to the pancreatic RNase A family. ECP displays a wide range of antipathogen activities. The protein is highly cationic and its bactericidal activity is dependant on both cationic and hydrophobic surface exposed residues. Previous studies on ECP by site-directed mutagenesis indicated that the RNase activity is not essential for its bactericidal activity. To further understand the ECP bactericidal mechanism, we have applied enzymatic and chemical limited cleavage to search for active sequence determinants.Following a search for potential peptidases we selected the Lys-endoproteinase, which cleaves the ECP polypeptide at the carboxyl side of its unique Lys residue, releasing the N-terminal fragment (0-38).Chemical digestion using cyanogen bromide released several complementary peptides at the protein N-terminus. Interestingly, ECP treatment with cyanogen bromide represents a new example of selective chemical cleavage at the carboxyl side of not only Met but also Trp residues. Recombinant ECP was denatured and carboxyamidomethylated prior to enzymatic and chemical cleavage. Irreversible denaturation abolishes the protein bactericidal activity.The characterization of the digestion products by both enzymatic and chemical approaches identifies a region at the protein N-terminus, from residues 11 to 35, that retains the bactericidal activity. The most active fragment, ECP(0-38), is further compared to ECP derived synthetic peptides. The region includes previously identified stretches related to lipopolysaccharide binding and bacteria agglutination. The results contribute to define the shortest ECP minimized version that would retain its antimicrobial properties. The data suggest that the antimicrobial RNase can provide a scaffold for the selective release of cytotoxic peptides.     

Comparison of two chemical cleavage methods for preparation of a truncated form of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I from a secreted fusion protein

We have produced a naturally occurring variant of human insulin-like growth factor I, truncated by three amino acids at the amino terminus. The polypeptide is obtained as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli. The fusion partner is a synthetic IgG-binding peptide. During fermentation the fusion protein is secreted into the medium, and is purified on IgG--Sepharose prior to cleavage. Two different genes for the fusion protein were used, allowing chemical cleavage at either a tryptophan linker or a methionine linker between the fusion partner and the growth factor, using N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) or cyanogen bromide (CNBr) respectively. A partial CNBr cleavage yielded the native peptide, whereas the NCS cleavage yielded a product in which the single methionine had been oxidized to the sulfoxide. The forms from both cleavage methods exhibited biological activity and were characterized after purification to homogeneity. Both cleavage methods gave products having correct N- and C-terminal ends. The purified product had a biological activity equal to that of corresponding material from natural sources, 15 000 U/mg. Modified forms of truncated IGF-I were also identified, purified and characterized. Modifications such as proteolysis and misincorporation of norleucine for methionine occurred during biosynthesis, while oxidation of methionine took place during both fermentation and chemical cleavage.