重组炭疽致死因子的表达及生物活性分析

使用分泌型表达质粒,实现了重组炭疽致死因子(rLF)在大肠杆菌周质腔中的分泌表达。表达量约占菌体总蛋白的4％。经过离子交换和凝胶过滤纯化,每升诱导培养物可获得约3mg电泳纯的rLF。蛋白N端测序表明,rLF序列与天然炭疽LF一致。体外细胞毒性试验亦显示rLF具有很好的生物活性。rLF的成功表达为今后研究LF的作用机理、发展新型炭疽疫苗、筛选针对炭疽致死毒素的抑制剂打下基础。     

炭疽毒素受体胞外区在毕赤酵母中分泌表达、纯化与活性鉴定

使用分泌型表达载体,实现了重组炭疽毒素受体胞外区 (rATR(CMG2)-EXCELL) 在毕赤酵母 KM71H 培养物上清中的分泌表达 . 表达量约占培养物上清总蛋白质的 20%. 经过螯合柱初步纯化,每升诱导培养物可获得约 1 mg 电泳纯的 rATR(CMG2)-EXCELL. 体外与配基 PA 结合试验和细胞保护试验显示, rATR(CMG2)-EXCELL 具有很好的生物活性 . rATR(CMG2)-EXCELL 的成功表达为今后研究炭疽毒素受体的作用机理、发展新型炭疽治疗药物打下基础 .     

重组炭疽水肿因子的表达与生物活性分析

炭疽毒素包括3种蛋白因子,即保护性抗原（PA）、致死因子（LF）和水肿因子（EF）。EF是钙调蛋白依耐的腺苷酸环化酶,可使细胞cAMP浓度升高,导致宿主防御能力下降。为深入研究炭疽毒素的作用机理,构建了原核表达质粒,在大肠杆菌中表达出重组EF（rEF）。经鉴定,rEF以可溶形式表达于细菌胞质中。经过金属螯和层析、阳离子交换层析和凝胶层析,每升诱导培养物可获得约5mg 重组蛋白。用重组蛋白免疫家兔获得了兔多抗,能够在细胞试验中中和rEF,体外细胞试验显示rEF具有很好的生物活性,在J774A.1和CHO细胞试验中,能与LF共同竞争和PA的结合位点,相互抑制。上述工作为深入研究炭疽毒素的作用机理,开发针对EF的毒素抑制剂打下基础     

抗肉毒毒素A人源单链抗体在酵母细胞中的分泌表达*

将特异肉毒抗毒素基因克隆入载体pPIC9k,G418抗性加压筛选阳性整合克隆,在毕赤酵母细胞GS115中进行分泌表达。获得了稳定分泌表达ScFv的工程菌,SDS-PAGE分析可见,目的蛋白分子量约为26kD,通过放大体积来探索重组抗毒素的诱导表达条件及纯化工艺,结果发现,1%甲醇诱导后72～84h,目的蛋白的表达达到高峰,占酵母培养上清中总蛋白的15%以上,经两步层析纯化,目的蛋白纯度可达95%。竞争活性测定结果表明,重组抗毒素在体外具有良好的活性,可竞争肉毒抗毒素马血清与毒素的特异结合。     

炭疽杆菌噬菌体裂解酶基因在大肠杆菌中的表达及鉴定

利用PCR方法扩增炭疽杆菌噬菌体裂解酶 (γlysin)基因 ,克隆至大肠杆菌表达载体pET2 2b中 ,经菌落PCR筛选、序列测定和酶切鉴定证实表达载体pET22b-γlysin构建成功 ,并在EscherichiacoliBL21(DE3)中获得了高表达。目的蛋白约占菌体总蛋白的40% ,5L发酵罐中的产酶水平高达 15g L。菌体经超声破碎 ,制备无细胞抽提液 ,StreamlineSP和SPHP柱层析以及SephacrylS-100凝胶过滤三步纯化 ,得到分子量为 2 7kD单一条带的目的蛋白 ,薄层扫描分析显示其纯度大于 95 %。目的蛋白的收率为19.1% ,纯化倍数为350。生物活性鉴定重组的γ噬菌体裂解酶具有特异性 :可快速裂解炭疽杆菌 ,比活为 1400u mg左右 ;而对大肠杆菌、枯草杆菌及蜡样芽孢杆菌没有裂解活性。     

炭疽毒素保护性抗原第四结构域在大肠杆菌中的可溶性表达

人工优化设计并合成炭疽毒素保护性抗原第四结构域基因,并与噬菌体gⅢ蛋白N端结构域基因融合,在大肠杆菌中可溶性表达融合蛋白。结果表明合成了炭疽毒素保护性抗原第四结构域基因,并在大肠杆菌中获得了高效可溶性融合表达,可溶性表达产物占细菌总蛋白量的36％左右;经亲和层析纯化获得了重组蛋白;Western印迹分析表明,表达产物能与His单抗（重组蛋白羧基端带有6xHis）发生特异性结合反应。以上结果表明获得了炭疽毒素保护性抗原第四结构域,为利用人抗体库进行筛选抗炭疽毒素的人源性中和抗体奠定了基础。     

炭疽芽孢杆菌保护性抗原在大肠杆菌中的表达及纯化

按照炭疽芽孢杆菌保护性抗原（PA）基因成熟肽编码序列设计引物,从炭疽杆菌pOX1质粒中扩增出PA基因片段,将该片段定向插入到原核表达载体pET-28a中,获得了pET-PA原核表达重组质粒,限制性酶切分析和DNA序列测定均证实该克隆插入片段为PA基因的成熟呔编码序列。将该重组质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）,经IPTG诱导,重组蛋白在大肠杆菌表达系统中获得了高效表达;Western印迹分析表明表达产物具有良好的免疫学活性。     

炭疽杆菌保护性抗原在大肠杆菌中的表达及其纯化

利用基因重组技术获取炭疽杆菌保护性抗原(PA)。将炭疽杆菌保护性抗原编码基因pag与pET载体连接构建重组质粒,转化大肠杆菌DE3株,诱导表达炭疽杆菌保护性抗原,并经亲和层析及凝胶过滤纯化此抗原。实验成功构建了表达炭疽杆菌保护性抗原的重组菌株,纯化后PA纯度达90%,且经检测纯化产物具有天然PA的生物学活性。同时表明从大肠杆菌中纯化PA较以往从炭疽杆菌中获取PA简便易行。     

炭疽杆菌致死因子的克隆与表达

以炭疽杆菌A16R株基因组DNA为模板,PCR扩增出炭疽杆菌致死因子LF基因。构建pET-28(a)/LF表达质粒,并在大肠杆菌中表达。优化表达条件,可溶性目的蛋白表达量约占细菌可溶性总蛋白的10%,表达产物经疏水层析纯化后,目的蛋白约占90%。免疫双扩散及免疫印迹试验检测结果显示,该表达产物与炭疽杆菌诊断血清有特异性反应,具有抗原性。     

抗肉毒毒素A人源单链抗体在酵母细胞中的分泌表达

将特异肉毒抗毒素基因克隆入载体pPIC9k,G418抗性加压筛选阳性整合克隆,在毕赤酵母细胞GS115中进行分泌表达。获得了稳定分泌表达ScFv的工程菌,SDS—PAGE分析可见,目的蛋白分子量约为26kD,通过放大体积来探索重组抗毒素的诱导表达条件及纯化工艺,结果发现,1％甲醇诱导后72～84h,目的蛋白的表达达到高峰,占酵母培养上清中总蛋白的15％以上,经两步层析纯化,目的蛋白纯度可达95％。竞争活性测定结果表明,重组抗毒素在体外具有良好的活性,可竞争肉毒抗毒素马血清与毒素的特异结合。     

Scalable purification of Bacillus anthracis protective antigen from Escherichia coli

The anthrax toxin consists of three proteins, protective antigen (PA), lethal factor, and edema factor that are produced by the Gram-positive bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. Current vaccines against anthrax use PA as their primary component. In this study, we developed a scalable process to produce and purify multi-gram quantities of highly pure, recombinant PA (rPA) from Escherichia coli. The rPA protein was produced in a 50-L fermentor and purified to >99% purity using anion-exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and hydroxyapatite chromatography. The final yield of purified rPA from medium cell density fermentations resulted in approximately 2.7 g of rPA per kg of cell paste (approximately 270 mg/L) of highly pure, biologically active rPA protein. The results presented here exhibit the ability to generate multi-gram quantities of rPA from E. coli that may be used for the development of new anthrax vaccines and anthrax therapeutics.     

Constitutive expression of protective antigen gene of Bacillus anthracis in Escherichia coli

The fatal bacterial infection caused by inhalation of the Bacillus anthracis spores results from the synthesis of protein toxins-protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF)--by the bacterium. PA is the target-cell binding protein and is common to the two effector molecules, LF and EF, which exert their toxic effects once they are translocated to the cytosol by PA. PA is the major component of vaccines against anthrax since it confers protective immunity. The large-scale production of recombinant protein-based anthrax vaccines requires overexpression of the PA protein. We have constitutively expressed the protective antigen protein in E. coli DH5alpha strain. We have found no increase in degradation of PA when the protein is constitutively expressed and no plasmid instability was observed inside the expressing cells. We have also scaled up the expression by bioprocess optimization using batch culture technique in a fermentor. The protein was purified using metal-chelate affinity chromatography. Approximately 125 mg of recombinant protective antigen (rPA) protein was obtained per liter of batch culture. It was found to be biologically and functionally fully active in comparison to PA protein from Bacillus anthracis. This is the first report of constitutive overexpression of protective antigen gene in E. coli.     

Expression and secretion of the protective antigen of Bacillus anthracis in Bacillus brevis

We used the Bacillus brevis-pNU212 system to develop a mass production system for the protective antigen (PA) of Bacillus anthracis. A moderately efficient expression-secretion system for PA was constructed by fusing the PA gene from B. anthracis with the B. brevis cell-wall protein signal-peptide encoding region of pNU212, and by introducing the recombinant plasmid, pNU212-mPA, into B. brevis 47-5Q. The clone producing PA secreted about 300 microg of recombinant PA (rPA) per ml of 5PY-erythromycin medium after 4 days incubation at 30 degrees C. The rPA was fractionated from the culture supernatant of B. brevis 47-5Q carrying pNU212-mPA using ammonium sulfate at 70% saturation followed by anion exchange chromatography on a Hitrap Q, a Hiload 16/60 Superdex 200 gel filtration column and a phenyl sepharose hydrophobic interaction column, yielding 70 mg rPA per liter of culture. The N-terminal sequence of the purified rPA was identical to that of native PA from B. anthracis. The purified rPA exhibited cytotoxicity towards J774A.1 cells when combined with lethal factor. The rPA formulated in either Rehydragel HPA or MPL-TDM-CWS adjuvant (Ribi-Trimix) elicited the expression of a large amount of anti-PA and neutralizing antibodies in guinea pigs and completely protected them against a 100 LD50 challenge with fully virulent B. anthracis spores.     

Effective mucosal immunity to anthrax: neutralizing antibodies and Th cell responses following nasal immunization with protective antigen

Mucosal, but not parenteral, immunization induces immune responses in both systemic and secretory immune compartments. Thus, despite the reports that Abs to the protective Ag of anthrax (PA) have both anti-toxin and anti-spore activities, a vaccine administered parenterally, such as the aluminum-adsorbed anthrax vaccine, will most likely not induce the needed mucosal immunity to efficiently protect the initial site of infection with inhaled anthrax spores. We therefore took a nasal anthrax vaccine approach to attempt to induce protective immunity both at mucosal surfaces and in the peripheral immune compartment. Mice nasally immunized with recombinant PA (rPA) and cholera toxin (CT) as mucosal adjuvant developed high plasma PA-specific IgG Ab responses. Plasma IgA Abs as well as secretory IgA anti-PA Abs in saliva, nasal washes, and fecal extracts were also induced when a higher dose of rPA was used. The anti-PA IgG subclass responses to nasal rPA plus CT consisted of IgG1 and IgG2b Abs. A more balanced profile of IgG subclasses with IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b Abs was seen when rPA was given with a CpG oligodeoxynucleotide as adjuvant, suggesting a role for the adjuvants in the nasal rPA-induced immunity. The PA-specific CD4(+) T cells from mice nasally immunized with rPA and CT as adjuvant secreted low levels of CD4(+) Th1-type cytokines in vitro, but exhibited elevated IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, and IL-10 responses. The functional significance of the anti-PA Ab responses was established in an in vitro macrophage toxicity assay in which both plasma and mucosal secretions neutralized the lethal effects of Bacillus anthracis toxin.     

Cloning of the protective antigen gene of Bacillus anthracis

The tripartite protein toxin of Bacillus anthracis consists of protective antigen (PA), edema factor (EF), and lethal factor (LF). As a first step in developing a more efficacious anthrax vaccine, recombinant plasmids containing the PA gene have been isolated. A library was constructed in the E. coli vector pBR322 from Bam HI-generated fragments of the anthrax plasmid, pBA1. Two clones producing PA were identified by screening lysates with ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Western blots revealed a full-size PA protein in the recombinant E. coli, and a cell elongation assay demonstrated biological activity. Both positive clones had a 6 kb insert of DNA, which mapped in the Bam HI site of the vector. The two inserts are the same except that they lie in opposite orientations with respect to the vector. Thus PA is encoded by the plasmid pBA1.     

Efficacy of non-toxic deletion mutants of protective antigen from Bacillus anthracis

Current human anthrax vaccines available in the United States and Europe consist of alum-precipitated supernatant material from cultures of a toxigenic, nonencapsulated strain of Bacillus anthracis. The major component of human anthrax vaccine that confers protection is protective antigen (PA). A second-generation human vaccine using the recombinant PA (rPA) is being developed. In this study, to prevent the toxicity and the degradation of the native rPA by proteases, we constructed two PA variants, delPA (163-168) and delPA (313-314), that lack trypsin (S(163)-R(164)-K(165)-K(166)-R(167)-S(168)) or chymotrypsin cleavage sequence (F(313)-F(314)), respectively. These proteins were expressed in Bacillus brevis 47-5Q. The delPAs were fractionated from the culture supernatant of B. brevis by ammonium sulfate at 70% saturation, followed by anion exchange chromatography on a Hitrap Q, Hiload 16/60 superdex 200 gel filtration column and phenyl sepharose hydrophobic interaction column. In accordance with previous reports, both delPA proteins combined with lethal factor protein did not show any cytotoxicity on J774A.1 cells. The delPA (163-168) and delPA (313-314) formulated either in Rehydragel HPA or MPL-TDM-CWS (Ribi-Trimix), elicited a comparable amount of anti-PA and neutralizing antibodies to those of native rPA in guinea pigs, and confers full protection of guinea pigs from 50xLD50 of fully virulent B. anthracis spore challenges. Ribi-Trimix was significantly more effective in inducing anti-PA and neutralizing antibodies than Rehydragel HPA. These results indicate the possibility of delPA (163-168) and delPA (313-314) proteins being developed into nontoxic, effective and stable recombinant vaccine candidates.     

Nasal immunization with the mixture of PA63, LF, and a PGA conjugate induced strong antibody responses against all three antigens

A new generation anthrax vaccine is expected to target not only the anthrax protective antigen (PA) protein, but also other virulent factors of Bacillus anthracis. It is also expected to be amenable for rapid mass immunization of a large number of people. This study aimed to address these needs by designing a prototypic triantigen nasal anthrax vaccine candidate that contained a truncated PA (rPA63), the anthrax lethal factor (LF), and the capsular poly-gamma-D-glutamic acid (gammaDPGA) as the antigens and a synthetic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), polyriboinosinic-polyribocytodylic acid (poly(I:C)) as the adjuvant. This study identified the optimal dose of nasal poly(I:C) in mice, demonstrated that nasal immunization of mice with the LF was capable of inducing functional anti-LF antibodies (Abs), and showed that nasal immunization of mice with the prototypic triantigen vaccine candidate induced strong immune responses against all three antigens. The immune responses protected macrophages against an anthrax lethal toxin challenge in vitro and enabled the immunized mice to survive a lethal dose of anthrax lethal toxin challenge in vivo. The anti-PGA Abs were shown to have complement-mediated bacteriolytic activity. After further optimization, this triantigen nasal vaccine candidate is expected to become one of the newer generation anthrax vaccines.     

Expression of furin-linked Fab fragments against anthrax toxin in a single mammalian expression vector

Human anti-recombinant protective antigen (rPA) Fab genes were previously cloned from single B cells of a donor immunized with anthrax vaccine using fluorescence activated cell sorting with fluorescein labeled rPA and single-cell PCR. The light and heavy chains were sub-cloned individually into mammalian expression vectors pSecTag2B or pEXPR44, respectively, and expressed in the same CHOK1 cells. Alternatively, the same heavy and light chains were linked together, using PCR, with an in-frame sequence coding for a furin cleavage site. This construct was cloned into pSecTag2B and expressed in CHOK1 cells. Once expressed, the individual chains combined in vivo to form a Fab fragment which was purified as a single protein when either method was utilized. The human Fab antibodies produced by this technique were functional when tested in Western blots using the recombinant PA antigen as the target.