Extracellular accumulation of recombinant protein by Escherichia coli in a defined medium

Extracellular accumulation of recombinant proteins in the culture medium of Escherichia coli is desirable but difficult to obtain. The inner or cytoplasmic membrane and the outer membrane of E. coli are two barriers for releasing recombinant proteins expressed in the cytoplasm into the culture medium. Even if recombinant proteins have been exported into the periplasm, a space between the outer membrane and the inner membrane, the outer membrane remains the last barrier for their extracellular release. However, when E. coli was cultured in a particular defined medium, recombinant proteins exported into the periplasm could diffuse into the culture medium automatically. If a nonionic detergent, Triton X-100, was added in the medium, recombinant proteins expressed in the cytoplasm could also be released into the culture medium. It was then that extracellular accumulation of recombinant proteins could be obtained by exporting them into the periplasm or releasing them from the cytoplasm with Triton X-100 addition. The tactics described herein provided simple and valuable methods for achieving extracellular production of recombinant proteins in E. coli.     

信号肽及化学通透剂对环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶胞外分泌的影响

【目的】研究不同的信号肽和化学通透剂对重组环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶(CGTase)胞外分泌的影响,提高CGTase的胞外分泌量。【方法】扩增地芽孢杆菌CHB1(Geobacillus sp.CHB1)的CGTase基因,构建带有地芽孢杆菌CHB1自身信号肽、Omp A、Pel B信号肽和不带信号肽的4种重组质粒;比较4种重组质粒对重组CGTase胞外分泌的影响,筛选最优的信号肽;考察甘氨酸、Triton X-100、SDS和Tween 80四种化学通透剂对重组CGTase胞外分泌的影响,确定最佳的化学通透剂及其浓度。【结果】Omp A信号肽介导的分泌效果最好,胞外酶活达到7.44 U/m L,分别是Pel B、CHB1信号肽的2.04倍和11.27倍,不带信号肽的重组质粒菌胞外检测不到酶活;携带Omp A信号肽的重组质粒菌发酵48 h,同时添加浓度为0.6%的甘氨酸和0.3%的Triton X-100,胞外酶活达最大到14.27 U/m L;SDS和Tween 80对该酶的胞外分泌具有明显的抑制作用。【结论】Omp A信号肽的介导效果最佳,同时添加浓度为0.6%和0.3%的甘氨酸和Triton X-100可以有效促进胞外分泌,为该重组酶的高效胞外分泌提供了一种有效的方法。     

Purification of a non-tagged recombinant BCG heat shock protein 65-Her2 peptide fusion protein from Escherichia coli

Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-derived heat shock protein 65 (HSP65) has been demonstrated capable of assisting a fused peptide to generate the peptide-specific cellular immunity. Various HSP65 fusion proteins have been developed as therapeutic cancer vaccines. Purifying a recombinant HSP65 fusion protein with no purification tags for human use is routinely a challenge. Here, we report a scheme for purifying a non-tagged recombinant HSP65-Her2 peptide fusion protein (HSP65-Her2) from Escherichia coli. The HSP65-Her2 is being developed as an immunotherapeutic for the treatment of Her2-positive tumors. After fermentation in a 10-L fermentor, the HSP65-Her2 expressing E. coli were harvested and lysed by sonication. The recombinant HSP65-Her2 was then purified with four successive steps including Butyl-Sepharose FF, DEAE-Sepharose FF, 1% Triton X-114 phase separation and Sephadex G-25. Results showed that HSP65-Her2 was purified up to 97% purity and was able to generate Her2-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), suggesting that the scheme is efficient for purifying the non-tagged HSP65-Her2 fusion protein with biological activity.     

Refolding and purification of Zymomonas mobilis levansucrase produced as inclusion bodies in fed-batch culture of recombinant Escherichia coli

Zymomonas mobilis levansucrase was overproduced by the fed-batch culture of recombinant Escherichia coli harboring a novel expression system that is constitutively expressed by the promoter from the Rahnella aquatilis levansucrase gene. Most of the levansucrase was produced as inclusion bodies in the bacterial cytoplasm, accounting for approximately 20% of the total cellular protein. Refolding after complete denaturation by high concentrations of urea or guanidine hydrochloride was not successful, resulting in large amounts of insoluble aggregates. During the development of the refolding method, it was found that direct solubilization of the inclusion bodies with Triton X-100 reactivated the enzyme, with a considerable refolding efficiency. About 65% of inclusion body levansucrase was refolded into active levansucrase in the renaturation buffer containing 4% (v/v) Triton X-100. The in vitro refolded enzyme was purified to 95% purity by single-step DEAE-Sepharose ion exchange chromatography. Triton X-100 was removed by this ion exchange chromatography.     

L-asparaginase release from Escherichia coli cells with K2HPO4 and Triton X100

A method to release L-asparaginase (EC 3.5.1.1) from ATCC Escherichia coli 11303 cells by chemical permeabilization was studied. It was found that a combination of K2HPO4 and Triton X100 was effective. The influences of K2HPO4 concentration, Triton concentration, E. coli cell concentration and pH on the release of enzyme and proteins were investigated in detail. Experimental results showed that 12.5% (w/v) K2HPO4, 2% (w/v) Triton X100 and 3 x 10(8) cells/mL made the amount of enzyme released over 70%. L-Asparaginase in K2HPO4 and Triton solution could remain stable at least for 24 h. The release effect of K2HPO4 and Triton X100 used simultaneously was better than that of K2HPO4 and Triton X100 used separately in succession. Electron microscopy indicated that the chemical treatment altered the surface structure of E. coli cells but did not break them. As the method does not produce a large amount of cell fragments and the amount of enzyme released is relatively high, it can be thought to be an valuable and economic method to release intracellular enzyme.     

融合牛肠激酶轻链EKL包涵体蛋白的复性纯化

大肠杆菌高密度发酵表达肠激酶轻链融合蛋白DsbA-rEKL,主要以包涵体形式存在。包涵体经4mol/L尿素和0.5%TritonX-100洗涤,以6mol/L盐酸胍、100mmol/LDTT溶解,在胱氨酸存在下,以脉冲加样方式复性。融合蛋白复性在6mmol/L胱氨酸存在下、脉冲加量0.03mg/mL和复性终蛋白浓度0.3mg/mL为最佳复性方案。复性的融合蛋白加2mmol/LCaCL2后快速自切。经IDA-Sepharose及Q-Sepharose纯化,rEKL纯度可达95%以上,可高效酶切重组瑞特普酶融合蛋白Trx-rPA。实现了大规模生产rEKL,每升发酵液经复性及纯化后,可得rEKL60mg/L以上,使以融合蛋白表达rPA等药用蛋白成为现实。     

表面活性剂对大肠杆菌胞外生产α-环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶的影响

研究了不同浓度表面活性剂Tween-80,Triton X-100,SDS对大肠杆菌生产α-环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶（α-CGT酶）的影响。结果表明：发酵初始添加Tween-80和Triton X-100的最适浓度分别为2％,0.5％,最终胞外酶活分别达2.03U/ml和4.92U/ml,相对于未添加表面活性剂时提高4.6倍和12.67倍,且改变添加时间不能提高酶的产量;发酵36 h添加0.02％SDS对α-CGT酶产量促进最大,最终胞外酶活达5.31U/ml,较对照组提高12.75倍。表面活性剂对α-CGT酶生产的促进作用可能是由大肠杆菌细胞内外膜渗透性增加所致,使细胞周质空间中α-CGT酶能更加快速地渗透到胞外。     

Purification of fusion proteins expressed by pEX3 and a truncated pEX3 derivative

A derivative of the pEX3 expression vector was constructed that codes for the first 407 amino acids of the 1051 amino acids of the pEX3 fusion protein. The amount of truncated fusion protein (40 mg/g cells), obtained by expression in E. coli, was similar to that produced by the original pEX3 vector. The truncated fusion protein was purified more easily from E. coli contaminants than the original fusion protein by washing with 2 M urea and 0.5% Triton X-100.     

High-yield expression of fully bioactive N-terminal parathyroid hormone analog in Escherichia coli

A fully active analog of human parathyroid hormone (hPTH) has been produced by recombinant expression in Escherichia coli. Initially, a nucleotide sequence encoding hPTH(1-34)-Asp-Pro was ligated to a proinsulin gene in the plasmid pUC8, for the eventual expression of a fusion protein of 137 amino acids. Unexpectedly, the proinsulin gene and 340 bp downstream were deleted by an unknown mechanism during transformation of the E. coli. This resulted in a new plasmid encoding a small (72-amino acid) fusion product of hPTH(1-34)-Asp35-Pro36-X, where X is a 36-residue "arbitrary" downstream sequence of pUC8. The fusion product was efficiently expressed and the hPTH analog, [Asp35]hPTH-(1-35), was readily released by acid cleavage, with a yield of 100 mg/L. This analog had an effective concentration for half-maximal adenylyl cyclase stimulation (EC50) in rat osteosarcoma cells of 14 nM, which was identical to that for hPTH-(1-34). In the ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis, [Asp35]hPTH-(1-35) was fully active as a bone anabolic agent.     

Recovery of a foreign protein from the periplasm of Escherichia coli by chemical permeabilization.

We have applied the technique of protein release by chemical permeabilization to recover a foreign protein in active form from the periplasm of a recombinant strain of Escherichia coli. The two agents used in our chemical permeabilization scheme, guanidine hydrochloride and Triton X-100, have different modes of action, allowing selectivity in protein release based on intracellular location under different treatment conditions. Specifically, treatment of E. coli C600-1 cells by guanidine alone resulted in 40-fold purification of recombinant beta-lactamase, which is periplasmically expressed in this host. Achieving such high purification in the cell disruption stage could alleviate some of the problems associated with recovery of intracellular products, such as low expression or the need to solubilize cytoplasmic inclusion bodies. Recovery of periplasmic proteins by chemical permeabilization is simpler than by osmotic shock and is less expensive than using enzymatic digestion.     

Rapid protein release from Escherichia coli by chemical permeabilization under fermentation conditions

Overall protein release greater than 75% in less than 1 h can be attained by exposing exponentially growing Escherichia coli cells to 0.4 M guanidine plus 0.5% Triton X-100 at 37 degrees C in medium. Cell growth stops immediately upon addition of the chemicals, but the cells are not lysed. Guanidine concentrations lower than 0.2 M, in conjunction with 0.5% Triton X-100, do not release significant intracellular protein, nor do they inhibit cell growth. Under these conditions, the cells undergo an adaptation that confers resistance to protein release by further treatment with guanidine and Triton X-100. Cells treated with 0.2 M guanidine plus 0.5% Triton X-100 display intermediate behavior. Protein release is approximately 35%, and growth is temporarily interrupted by an extended lag phase. Subsequent resumption of cell growth results in resistant cells and no additional protein release. This resistance is shown to be reversible and is most likely due to physiological adaptation rather than genetic mutation.     

人IGF-1在大肠杆菌中的可溶表达和纯化

目的:在大肠杆菌中的可溶表达和纯化人胰岛素样生长因子1(hIGF-1)。方法:根据hIGF-1的氨基酸序列和大肠杆菌密码子偏爱性,利用重叠延伸PCR的方法合成hIGF-1DNA序列,构建表达载体,在大肠杆菌OrigamiB(DE3)中与硫氧还蛋白TrxA融合表达,并通过盐析和镍柱亲合层析进行纯化。结果:SDS-PAGE分析显示,重组融合蛋白以可溶形式存在,分子量约为28kDa,占上清总蛋白的50%以上。经盐析和镍柱亲合层析进行纯化,目标蛋白纯度可达到90%左右。结论:复合干扰素在大肠杆菌中的高效可溶表达。     

Integrated bioprocess for production of human proinsulin C-peptide via heat release of an intracellular heptameric fusion protein

An integrated bioprocess has been developed suitable for production of recombinant peptides using a gene multimerization strategy and site-specific cleavage of the resulting gene product. The process has been used for production in E. coli of the human proinsulin C-peptide via a fusion protein BB-C7 containing seven copies of the 31-residues C-peptide monomer. The fusion protein BB-C7 was expressed at high level, 1.8 g l(-1), as a soluble gene product in the cytoplasm. A heat treatment procedure efficiently released the BB-C7 fusion protein into the culture medium. This step also served as an initial purification step by precipitating the majority of the host cell proteins, resulting in a 70% purity of the BB-C7 fusion protein. Following cationic polyelectrolyte precipitation of the nucleic acids and anion exchange chromatography, native C-peptide monomers were obtained by enzymatic cleavage at flanking arginine residues. The released C-peptide material was further purified by reversed-phase chromatography and size exclusion chromatography. The overall yield of native C-peptide at a purity exceeding 99% was 400 mg l(-1) culture, corresponding to an overall recovery of 56%. The suitability of this process also for the production of other recombinant proteins is discussed.     

Production of a recombinant carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase from grape and enzyme assay in water-miscible organic solvents

A recombinant carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase from Vitis vinifera L. was produced by Escherichia coli as a fusion with the glutathione-S-transferase (GST) protein under different bacterial growth conditions. The enzyme production was monitored by a GST assay. Addition of Triton X-100 prior to bacterial cell disruption doubled the release of soluble protein. A simple spectrophotometric enzyme assay was developed to measure carotenoid cleavage activity using lutein as substrate. Enzyme activity showed a 26-fold increase with the addition of 10% (v/v) acetone in the reaction mixture.     

Production of antifungal recombinant peptides in Escherichia coli

Antifungal peptides derived from the human bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) were produced in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins with human BoneD. Bacterial cultures transformed with the gene encoding the fusion protein were grown to a high cell density (OD(600)>100), and induced with L-arabinose to initiate product expression. Fusion protein accumulated into cytoplasmic inclusion bodies and recombinant peptide was released from BoneD by acid hydrolysis at an engineered aspartyl-prolyl dipeptide linker. Acid hydrolysis of purified inclusion bodies at pH <2.6 followed Arrhenius kinetics and did not require prior inclusion body solubilization in detergents or denaturants. Surprisingly, at pH <2.6 and 85 degrees C, cell lysis and aspartyl-prolyl hydrolysis with concomitant peptide release occurred simultaneously. Bacterial cultures were, therefore, adjusted to approximately pH 2.6 with HCl directly in the bioreactor and incubated at elevated temperature. Peptide, which is soluble in the aqueous acidic environment, was separated from the insoluble material and purified using column separation techniques. Recombinant peptide was separated from the hydrolyzed bioreactor culture with >76% recovery and a final peptide purity of >97%. Antifungal peptide prepared by recombinant and solid phase synthesis methods demonstrated similar activity against Candida sp. in a broth microdilution assay.     

小鼠TAp63γ及两种突变体的原核表达、纯化和DNA结合活性

采用PCR扩增法得到小鼠TAp63γ野生型及两种缺失突变体的cDNA,3种cDNA与表达载体pGEX-2TK重组构建成GST融合表达质粒并转化感受态E.coli BL21 (DE3),经IPTG诱导了小鼠TAp63γ野生型及两种缺失突变体的可溶性表达. 诱导表达的菌液经离心收集菌体、超声破碎及Triton X-100增溶后获得可溶性表达蛋白粗提液. 利用Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast Flow亲合层析纯化出电泳均一的3种GST融合蛋白. 凝胶滞留分析证实仅野生型小鼠TAp63γ蛋白能特异结合p53靶序列,经序列比对及同源建模分析,表明小鼠TAp63γ DBD结合区的完整性、关键氨基酸的保守性及三维结构的相似性可能是其DNA结合活性所必需的.     

Secretory expression in Escherichia coli and single-step purification of a heat-stable alkaline protease

Bacteriocin release proteins (BRPs) can be used for the release of heterologous proteins from the Escherichia coli cytoplasm into the culture medium. The gene for a highly thermostable alkaline protease was cloned from Bacillus stearothermophilus F1 by the polymerase chain reaction. The recombinant F1 protease was efficiently excreted into the culture medium using E. coli XL1-Blue harboring two vectors: pTrcHis bearing the protease gene and pJL3 containing the BRPs. Both vectors contain the E. coli lac promoter-operator system. In the presence of 40 microM IPTG, the recombinant F1 protease and the BRP were expressed and mature F1 protease was released into the culture medium. This opens the way for the large-scale production of this protease in E. coli. The recombinant enzyme was purified through a one-step heat treatment at 70 degrees C for 3h and this method purified the protease to near homogeneity. The purified enzyme showed a pH optimum of 9.0, temperature optimum of 80 degrees C, and was stable at 70 degrees C for 24h in the pH range from 8.0 to 10.0. The enzyme exhibited a high degree of thermostability with a half-life of 4 h at 85 degrees C, 25 min at 90 degrees C, and was inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF).     

Thrombin and H64A subtilisin cleavage of fusion proteins for preparation of human recombinant parathyroid hormone

Human parathyroid hormone, hPTH, an 84 amino acid polypeptide, was produced intracellularly inEscherichia coli as a fusion protein, linked to the C-terminus of a 15 kD IgG-binding protein. Approximately 100 mg fusion protein was obtained per liter fermentation medium. To test the efficiency of two alternative enzymatic cleavage methods, two fusion proteins differing only in the linker region were constructed. Cleavage of a Phe-Phe-Pro-Arg linker was obtained with bovine thrombin and cleavage of a Phe-Ala-His-Tyr linker with recombinant H64A subtilisin. Both enzmes yielded the correct N-terminus and cleaved their respective linkers quantitatively, although additional internal cleavage sites in hPTH were detected and characterized. The linker cleavage conditions were optimized and hPTH was purified to homogeneity. Thrombin cleavage resulted in a final yield of 5 mg hPTH/L, while H64A subtilisin cleavage was more specific and gave 8 mg/L. The purified recombinant product was identical to native hPTH and exhibited full biological activity in an adenylate cyclase assay.     

Induction of hypocrellin production by Triton X-100 under submerged fermentation with Shiraia sp. SUPER-H168

Hypocrellins are important photodynamic therapy compounds for cancer disease. The effect of surfactants on hypocrellin production of Shiraia sp. SUPER-H168 was evaluated under submerged fermentation condition. The production of hypocrellins could reach 780.6 mg/l with the addition of Triton X-100, confirmed by color reaction, high performance liquid chromatography, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. According to our observation, treatment of the culture at the beginning of the fermentation was most effective, and the yield of hypocrellins was much lower with the addition of Triton X-100 during the log phase and stationary phase. Shiraia sp. SUPER-H168 could not produce hypocrellin with the addition of other tested surfactants, such as Tween 40, Triton X-114 and SDS. The experimental results indicated that Shiraia sp. SUPER-H168 could not produce hypocrellins without Triton X-100 under submerged fermentation condition.