Expression and purification of human urodilatin by small ubiquitin-related modifier fusion in Escherichia coli

To prevent in vivo degradation, small peptides are usually expressed in fusion proteins from which target peptides can be released by proteolytic or chemical reagents. In this report, small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) linked with a hexa-histidine tag was used as a fusion partner for the production of recombinant human urodilatin, a hormone for the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure. The fusion protein, which was overexpressed mainly as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli, constituted about 25% of the total cell proteins. After purification by Ni-sepharose affinity chromatography and renaturation in refolding buffer, the fusion protein was cleaved with SUMO protease 1. Urodilatin was separated from the fusion partner by the subtractive chromatography using Ni-sepharose once again, and then further purified with reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. In vitro activity assay demonstrated that the recombinant urodilatin had a potent vasodilatory effect on rabbit aortic strips with an EC₅₀ of 1.77 ± 0.53 μg/ml, which was similar to that of the synthetic urodilatin standard. The expression strategy presented in this study allows convenient high yield and easy purification of small recombinant peptides with native sequences. Z. Sun and Z. Xia contribute equally to the work.     

Expression,purification, and characterization of a biologically active bovine enterokinase catalytic subunit in Escherichia coli

Enterokinase (EC 3.4.21.9) is a serine proteinase in the duodenum that exhibits specificity for the sequence (Asp)(4)-Lys. It converts trypsinogen to trypsin. Its high specificity for the recognition site makes enterokinase (EK) a useful tool for in vitro cleavage of fusion proteins. cDNA encoding the catalytic chain of Chinese bovine enterokinase was cloned and its encoding amino acid sequence is identical to the previously reported sequence although there are two one-base mutations which do not change the encoded amino acid. The EK catalytic subunit cDNA was cloned into plasmid pET32a, and fused downstream to the fusion partner thioredoxin (Trx) and the following DDDDK enterokinase recognition sequence. The recombinant bovine enterokinase catalytic subunit was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), and most products existed in soluble form. After an in vivo autocatalytic cleavage of the recombinant Trx-EK catalytic domain fusion protein, intact, biologically active EK catalytic subunit was released from the fusion protein. The recombinant intact EK catalytic subunit was purified to homogeneity with a specific activity of 720 AUs/mg protein through ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE chromatography, and gel filtration. The purified intact EK catalytic subunit has a K(m) of 0.17 mM, and K(cat) is 20.8s(-1). From 100 ml flask culture, 4.3 mg pure active EK catalytic subunits were obtained.     

Recombinant expression and partial characterization of an active soluble histo-aspartic protease from Plasmodium falciparum

Malaria aspartic proteases are attractive drug targets for the treatment of malaria, however, recombinant expression of active histo-aspartic proteinase (HAP) to facilitate its characterization has proven elusive. The present study reports on the first recombinant expression of soluble, active histo-aspartic proteinase from Plasmodium falciparum as a thioredoxin fusion protein. A truncated form of HAP (77p-451) was fused to thioredoxin in the pET32b(+) vector and the fusion protein (Trx-tHAP) was expressed in Escherichia coli Rosetta-gami B (DE3)pLysS. The fusion protein was partially purified from the culture medium using a combination of anion exchange and Ni(2+) affinity chromatography. Soluble tHAP was subsequently purified by enterokinase treatment and removal, followed by gel filtration chromatography. Although truncated HAP was incapable of autocatalytic activation, enterokinase digestion of partially purified fusion protein released the truncated prosegment yielding a mature form of tHAP (mtHAP). N-terminal sequencing of mtHAP indicated that enterokinase cleavage took place at Lys119-Ser120, four residues upstream of the native cleavage site (Gly123-Ser124). Initial activity tests showed that mtHAP was capable of hydrolyzing acid-denatured globin as well as cleavage of the synthetic substrate EDANS-CO-CH(2)-CH(2)-CO-ALERMFLSFP-Dap(DABCYL)-OH. Inhibition studies showed that the activity of mtHAP was completely inhibited by pepstatin A and to a lesser degree, PMSF. Using the synthetic substrate, mtHAP showed a pH optimum of 5.2, and Km=3.4 microM and kcat=1.6 x 10(-3)s(-1). The successful expression of active recombinant HAP from E. coli will accelerate the investigation of the structure-function relationships of HAP and facilitate the development of specific inhibitors with antimalarial activities.     

重组牛肠激酶轻链基因在毕赤酵母中的表达与纯化

目的:构建重组牛肠激酶轻链的基因工程菌,并进行表达和纯化,以获得高纯度和高活性的重组牛肠激酶轻链蛋白。方法:以GenBank公共数据库中的牛肠激酶轻链基因序列(AccessionNo.NM174439)设计引物,利用RT-PCR合成牛肠激酶轻链基因片段,并克隆进pPIC9K载体,同时在基因N端插进6个组氨酸标签,转化毕赤酵母GS115,进行筛选和诱导表达。产物经镍离子螯和层析和Q-SepharoseFF柱纯化,并酶切融合蛋白检测其活性。结果:培养液中重组牛肠激酶轻链蛋白表达量为3.0mg/L。对含有肠激酶酶切位点的IL-11/MBP融合蛋白进行酶切,结果表明,酶解率可达到90%以上。结论:表达并获得了高纯度的重组肠激酶轻链蛋白,为大规模生产打下了基础。     

Optimization of the production and purification processes of carnobacteriocins Cbn BM1 and Cbn B2 from Carnobacterium maltaromaticum CP5 by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli

An optimization of the production and purification processes of carnobacteriocins Cbn BM1 and Cbn B2 from Carnobacterium maltaromaticum CP5, by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli is described. The genes encoding mature bacteriocin were cloned into an E. coli expression system and expressed as a fusion protein with a thermostable thioredoxin. Recombinant E. coli were cultivated following a fed-batch fermentation process with pH, temperature and oxygenation regulation. The overexpression of the fusion proteins was improved by replacing IPTG by lactose. The fusion proteins were purified by thermal coagulation followed by affinity chromatography. The thioredoxin fusion protein was removed by using CNBr instead of enterokinase and the carnobacteriocins were recovered by reverse-phase chromatography. These optimizations led us to produce up to 320 mg of pure protein per liter of culture, which is four to ten fold higher than what is described for other heterologous expression systems.     

重组牛肠激酶轻链基因在大肠杆菌中的表达与纯化

肠激酶（Enteroloinase,EK,EC3.4.21.9）是一种以异源二聚体形式存在于哺乳动物十二指肠内的丝氨酸蛋白酶,通过在位点（Asp）4-Lys的羧基端进行高效特异酶切,将胰蛋白酶原激活为胰蛋白酶。以GenBank公共数据库中牛肠激酶轻链基因序列（Accession No.NM174439）设计引物,利用RT-PCR方法合成牛肠激酶轻链基因片段,并克隆进pET39b载体中DsbA片段的C’端,转化大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）,获得DsbA/牛肠激酶轻链融合蛋白,经镍离子螯合层析纯化,每升培养液中可得到2.7-3.0mg重组牛肠激酶,对含有肠激酶酶切位点的IL-11/MBP融合蛋白进行酶切,结果表明,酶解率可达到95%以上,为重组牛肠激酶的大规模生产打下了基础。     

Expression and purification of antimicrobial peptide adenoregulin with C-amidated terminus in Escherichia coli

Adenoregulin is a 33 amino acid antimicrobial peptide isolated from the skin of the arboreal frog Phyllomedusa bicolor. Natural adenoregulin is synthesized with an amidated valine residue at C-terminus and shows lethal effects against filamentous fungi, as well as a broad spectrum of pathogenic microorganisms. A synthetic gene for adenoregulin (ADR) with an additional amino acid glutamine at C-terminus was cloned into pET32a vector to allow expression of ADR as a Trx fusion protein in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The resulting expression level of the fusion protein could reach up to 20% of the total cell proteins. The fusion protein could be purified effectively by Ni2+-chelating chromatography. Released from the fusion protein by enterokinase cleavage and purified to homogeneity, the recombinant ADR displayed antimicrobial activity similar to that of the synthetic ADR reported earlier. Comparing the antimicrobial activities of the recombinant adenoregulin with C-amidated terminus to that without an amidated C-terminus, we found that the amide of glutamine at C-terminus of ADR improved its potency on certain microorganisms such as Tritirachium album and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

Expression and purification of exendin-4, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, in Escherichia coli

Exendin-4 is a 39 amino acid peptide isolated from salivary secretions of Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum). It shows 53% sequence similarity to glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is evaluated for the regulation of plasma glucose in type 2 diabetes. Exendin-4 is a potent and long-acting agonist of GLP-1 receptor. In the present study, the exendin-4 gene obtained by PCR with an enterokinase site at N-terminus and a termination codon at C-terminus was expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) harboring pET32a(+). The fusion protein was purified by chromatography on Ni-NTA-agarose column. Recombinant exendin-4 was obtained by enterokinase cleavage of the fusion protein and subsequent purification. The yield of recombinant exendin-4 was 3.15mg/10g bacteria. The obtained recombinant exendin-4 shows glucose-lowering action in vivo.     

Expression and purification of a recombinant antibacterial peptide, cecropin, from Escherichia coli

Insect cecropins are small basic polypeptides synthesized in fat body and hemocytes in response to bacterial infections or hypodermic injuries. To explore a new approach for high expression of soluble cecropin in Escherichia coli cells, we fused the sequence encoding Musca domestica mature cecropin (named Mdmcec) in-frame to thioredoxin (TRX) gene to construct an expression vector pTRX-6His-Mdmcec. An enterokinase cleavage site was introduced between the 6xHis-tag and Mdmcec to facilitate final release of the recombinant Mdmcec. The fusion protein TRX-6His-Mdmcec was purified successfully by HisTrap HP affinity column and a high yield of 48.0mg purified fusion protein was obtained from 1L culture. Recombinant Mdmcec was readily obtained by enterokinase cleavage of the fusion protein followed by HPLC chromatography, and 11.2mg pure active recombinant Mdmcec was obtained from 1L E. coli culture. The molecular mass of recombinant Mdmcec determined by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is identical to that of native cecropin. Analysis of recombinant Mdmcec by circular dichroism (CD) indicated that recombinant Mdmcec contained predominantly alpha-helix with some random coil. Antimicrobial activity assays demonstrated that recombinant Mdmcec had a broad spectrum of activity against fungi, Gram-positive and negative bacteria. The procedure described in this study will provide a reliable and simple method for production of different cationic peptides for biological studies.     

Expression, purification of human vasostatin120-180 in Escherichia coli, and its anti-angiogenic characterization

According to codon preference of Escherichia coli, the optimized coding sequence of human vasostatin120-180aa (VAS) was obtained by chemical synthesis and molecular cloning methods. Using PCR and enzyme digestion, the full encoding sequence for VAS was cloned into the E. coli expression vector pALEX and expressed as a GST fusion protein in BL21 (DE3) strain. GST-VAS protein approximately accounted for 45% of the total bacterial proteins. Most of target protein existed in inclusion body. To improve the solubility of GST-VAS, the contribution of low temperature and molecular chaperone co-expression to the solubility of GST-VAS was tested. The results showed that co-expression with chaperons, TF and GroES/GroEL, and low expression temperature cooperatively improved the solubility of GST-VAS from 10 to 85%, and the yield of soluble GST-VAS was sixfold increased. When purified by GST affinity chromatography, 50 mg GST-VAS was obtained with purity over 85% from 1 L culture. Intact VAS was released by enterokinase digestion and further purified by Sephadex G50 gel filtration chromatography. About 7.2 mg intact homogeneous VAS protein was finally produced from 1L bacterial culture. The identity of GST-VAS and VAS was validated by Western blotting analysis. Recombinant VAS protein displayed distinct inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation and anti-angiogenic activity by chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay.     

Biologically active and C-amidated hinnavinII-38-Asn produced from a Trx fusion construct in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

The cabbage butterfly (Artogeia rapae) antimicrobial peptide hinnavinII as a member of cecropin family is synthesized as 37 residues in size with an amidated lysine at C-terminus and shows the humoral immune response to a bacterial invasion. In this work, a synthetic gene for hinnavinII-38-Asn (HIN) with an additional amino acid asparagine residue containing amide group at C-terminus was cloned into pET-32a(+) vector to allow expression of HIN as a Trx fusion protein in Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) pLysS. The resulting expression level of the fusion protein Trx-HIN could reach 15–20% of the total cell proteins and more than 70% of the target proteins were in soluble form. The fusion protein could be purified successfully by HiTrap Chelating HP column and a high yield of 15 mg purified fusion protein was obtained from 80 ml E. coli culture. Recombinant HIN was readily obtained by enterokinase cleavage of the fusion protein followed by FPLC chromatography, and 3.18 mg pure active recombinant HIN was obtained from 80 ml culture. The molecular mass of recombinant HIN determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer is 4252.084 Da which matches the theoretical mass (4252.0 Da) of HIN. Comparing the antimicrobial activities of the recombinant hinnavinII with C-amidated terminus to that without an amidated C-terminus, we found that the amide of asparagine at C-terminus of hinnavinII improved its potency on certain microorganism such as E. coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Bacillus megaterium, and Staphylococcus aureus.     

Expression and purification of soluble B lymphocyte stimulator from recombinant Escherichia coli

In this work, the expression conditions of fusion protein thioredoxin (Trx)-soluble B lymphocyte stimulator (sBLyS) in shake flask and bioreactor from the recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) with a pET system encoding the fusion protein gene of Trx-sBLyS and the purification method of the sBLyS were optimized to effectively obtain the bioactive protein sBLyS with a high purity. A yield of about 250 mg Trx-sBLyS/g DWC (1686 mg Trx-sBLyS/L) and expression level of about 38.5% in soluble Trx-sBLyS were obtained in a 30 1 bioreactor after optimization of the fermentation conditions. After the completion of the optimized purification procedure in order of affinity chromatography, enzymatic cleavage with enterokinase and DEAE ion exchange chromatography, about 200 mg sBLyS per liter fermentation broth was obtained with a purity of about 95% and a yield of near 30%, respectively. Furthermore, the molecular weight (MW) and the isoelectric point (pI) of the purified sBLyS were determined by 2-D gel electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE analysis and estimated to be over 16 kDa and about pH 4.15, respectively. In addition, the bioactivities of the soluble Trx-sBLyS in fermentation broth and the purified sBLyS were tested by two kinds of analytical methods of bioactivity. The good fermentation yield and the satisfied, purified sBLyS product with high purity, yield and bioactivity demonstrated the sBLyS production procedure was promising in industry.     

人Hepassocin的原核可溶性表达与纯化

目的：构建人Hepassocin的原核表达载体,可溶性表达并纯化得到高纯度的重组人Hepassocino方法：将人Hepassocin基因克隆到原核表达载体pET40b（＋）,转化大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）,于28℃经0．1mmol／LIPTG诱导6h,表达Ds-bC-Hepassocin融合蛋白,经镍柱纯化可溶性融合蛋白,用肠激酶切除融合蛋白的DsbC-His标签,再用镍柱纯化分离酶切后的Hepassocin,通过超滤进一步纯化并浓缩,用Western blot验证纯化后的Hepassocin。结果：构建了pET40b-Hepassocin原核表达载体,经诱导表达、亲和层析和肠激酶切除融合标签,获得了相对分子质量约32000的可溶性高纯度蛋白,Western blot鉴定证实该蛋白为不含融合标签的重组人Hepassocin。结论：实现了人Hepassocin的原核可溶性表达,通过纯化获得了较高纯度的重组人Hepassocin,为制备其单克隆抗体,进一步研究其生物学功能奠定了基础。     

中国林蛙核糖核酸酶Rdrlec新基因的原核可溶表达

来源于蛙属的核糖核酸酶由于具有显著的抗肿瘤活性而备受关注,Rdrlec是从中国林蛙基因组中克隆得到的核糖核酸酶新基因。获得大量高纯度野生型重组蛋白是研究其功能的基础。按照大肠杆菌偏好的密码子人工合成Rdrlec基因,通过EcoR I和Hind III位点插入到表达载体pET-32a(+)中构建pET32-Rdrlec重组表达质粒,转化到Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)中,0.4 mmol/L IPTG 30℃诱导6 h后,融合蛋白主要以可溶形式表达,经过Ni-NTA亲和纯化和Sephadex G75层析纯化,得到电泳纯融合蛋白。肠激酶切割后得到Rdrlec野生型重组蛋白,具有降解RNA的酶活性,证明分子的空间结构已经正确形成。Rdrlec野生型重组蛋白表达成功,为后续蛋白结构与功能的研究以及进一步的开发应用提供了原料。     

Recombinant expression, purification, and antimicrobial activity of a novel hybrid antimicrobial peptide LFT33

With great therapeutic potential against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, viruses, and even parasites, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have received increased interest as pharmaceutical agents in recent years. It is a worthy yet challenging work to carry out the implement and improvement of AMPs production using bioengineering techniques. In the present study, a novel hybrid peptide LFT33 was designed derived from LfcinB and thanatin. The cDNA fragment encoding LFT33 with preferred codons of Escherichia coli was chemically synthesized and ligated into the vector pET32a(+) to express the LFT33 fusion protein. The fusion protein was successfully expressed in soluble form in E. coli induced under optimized conditions. After purification by affinity chromatography, the fusion protein was cleaved successfully by enterokinase and released the peptide LFT33. About 0.5?mg of the recombinant LFT33 was obtained by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography from 1?l of culture medium. Mass spectrometry analysis of the purified recombinant LFT33 demonstrated that the molecular weight perfectly matched the calculated mass (4,195?Da). The recombinant peptide LFT33 caused an increase in antimicrobial activity (IC(50)?=?16-64?μg/ml) against given strains and did not show hemolytic activity for human erythrocytes. The results indicated that the hybrid peptide LFT33 could serve as a promising candidate for pharmaceutical agents.     

死亡肽基因的合成及在大肠杆菌中的表达

将人工合成的寡核苷酸片段,通过PCR扩增得到死亡肽（thanatin）基因,并将其克隆到表达载体pGEX-3X中,序列分析结果正确。经IPTG诱导,在大肠杆菌BL21中进行高效可溶性表达,表达量可达20%以上。融合蛋白通过GST亲和层析纯化,用肠激酶酶解表达产物,用Sephadex G-25初步纯化得到具有抗菌活性的死亡肽。     

Expression, purification, and characterisation of nesiritide using an E. coli expression system

Nesiritide, the recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide, is involved in the regulation of cardiovascular homeostasis and has been approved for treatment of patients with congestive heart failure. We prepared a synthetic cDNA construct of Nesiritide to generate a fusion protein with an affinity handle and 41 amino acid peptide of β-galactosidase. The fusion protein was expressed mainly in the inclusion bodies and accounted for approximately 20% of total cellular protein. After purification by Ni-IDA affinity chromatography and renaturation, the fusion protein was cleaved with purified recombinant enterokinase. Nesiritide was purified by pH precipitation/ion exchange chromatography followed by source phenyl chromatography to obtain protein with > 99% purity (determined by RPHPLC) and a mass of 3,464 Daltons. The potency (ED₅₀) of the purified protein was equivalent to that of Natrecor (Innovator formulation). Analytical methods were developed to identify oxidised, reduced and other related impurities. The expression strategy described in this work allows the convenient generation of high yield Nesiritide and enabled ease of purification.     

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。     

Production of recombinant porcine tumor necrosis factor alpha in a novel E. coli expression system.

DNA sequences encoding porcine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) were reconstructed from a genomic-derived PCR product for expression in Escherichia coli. A synthetic DNA primer containing most of exon III was fused to exon IV sequences by means of PCR. The fused product was then inserted into the novel FLAG vector by restriction and ligation. This initial recombinant construct was propagated in single-strand form through use of a helper phage and subjected to oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis for the purpose of introducing additional coding sequences from exons II and III. The final construct encoded a fusion protein consisting of the Omp-A signal peptide, a seven-amino acid FLAG peptide and the soluble form of porcine TNF alpha. Bacteria containing this construct produced a protein which was recognized by anti-FLAG monoclonal antibody in Western blots and which was purified by anti-FLAG immunoaffinity chromatography. The purified material was cleaved with enterokinase to remove the FLAG peptide. Both the enterokinase-cleaved form and the uncleaved form were shown to have TNF activity in a WEHI cell cytotoxicity assay.     

重组人胰高血糖素样肽－1的表达及生物学活性

将人工合成的人胰高血糖素样肽-1（human glucagon like peptide-1, hGLP-1）基因插入质粒载体pET-32a(+)中,构建成rhGLP-1与硫氧还蛋白（thioredox）及六聚组氨酸（hexahistidine）的融合表达载体pET32-GLP-1,转化大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）获得表达菌株,经IPTG诱导发酵的菌体超声破碎后,裂解液用Ni离子亲和层析纯化得到融合蛋白,经肠激酶裂解,再次Ni离子亲和层析,得到rhGLP-1样品。经SDS PAGE 和等电聚焦检测,样品纯度大于90％, 等电点介于pH5.2～pH5.85之间。质谱测定rhGLP-1分子量为3 355.0kDa,肽图分析得到2 097.7kDa和1 005.5kDa两个胰蛋白酶酶解片断,均与理论分析结果一致。动物实验表明重组蛋白具有明显的降血糖活性和促胰岛素分泌作用。