Cloning, overproduction, and purification of the B2 subunit of ribonucleoside-diphosphate reductase.

The nrdB gene, which encodes the B2 subunit of Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase (EC 1.17.4.1), was cloned into multicopy plasmid pSPS2. This vector, which contains the pL promoter of bacteriophage lambda and the tetracycline resistance gene of pBR322, was transformed into a lysogenic host with a thermolabile repressor. In the newly constructed strain, subunit B2 constituted approximately 25% of the soluble protein after heat induction, an overproduction of several hundredfold relative to the wild-type strain. Purification to homogeneity of the overproduced protein was accomplished by using DEAE and quaternary aminoethyl ion-exchange resins.     

Functional mapping of Autographa california nuclear polyhedrosis virus genes required for late gene expression.

A plasmid containing the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene under the control of an Autographa california nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) late gene promoter was constructed. This plasmid (pL2cat) also contained the AcNPV hr5 enhancer element. Transient-expression assay experiments indicated that the late promoter was active in Spodoptera frugiperda cells cotransfected with pL2cat and AcNPV DNA but not when pL2cat was transfected alone. Low levels of CAT activity were observed in cells cotransfected with pL2cat and pIE-1 DNAs. However, CAT activity was not induced in a similar plasmid which lacked the cis-linked enhancer element, indicating that the enhancer was required for expression of the late gene. Cotransfection mapping of pPstI clones of AcNPV DNA indicated that the pPstI-G clone of viral DNA contained a factor which further stimulated late gene expression 3- to 10-fold. Transient-expression assay analysis of subclones of pPstI-G localized the trans-active factor to a 3.0-kilobase XbaI fragment. The nucleotide sequence of this fragment was determined and found to contain three potential open reading frames. A computer-assisted search of a protein database revealed no closely related proteins. One of the predicted amino acid sequences contained potential metal-binding domains similar to those found in nucleic acid-binding proteins. Subcloning and subsequent CAT assay indicated that two of the open reading frames were required for the activation of pL2cat. Nuclease S1 mapping of infected and transfected RNAs indicated that the two open reading frames were transcribed as delayed-early genes. Quantitative nuclease S1 analysis and differential DNA digestion of recovered plasmids indicated that the activation of pL2cat was not due to an increase in steady-state levels of mRNA replication of the viral DNA.     

Over-expression of natural and variant human H-chain ferritins in E. coli

The natural human H-chain ferritin was expressed in E. coli using a multi-copy expression vector containing the lambda pL promoter. A variant H-ferritin, having an altered N-terminus, was also produced. These proteins are overproduced (greater than 30% of the soluble protein), correctly assembled into its 24-subunit shell, and able to bind iron. The identity of the products was confirmed using an antibody specific for H-ferritin.     

Overproduction of transcription termination factor Rho in Escherichia coli

A plasmid system has been constructed which allows high-level expression of the rho gene of Escherichia coli under the control of the pL promoter and the N-antitermination regulatory system of bacteriophage lambda. The pL-directed synthesis of Rho crucially depends on the lambda N gene product and is promoted most effectively when this product is supplied from the N gene cloned on a separate compatible plasmid with a moderate copy number. The requirement for N can be circumvented partly, but not completely, by deletion of the region preceding the rho structural gene. Attempts were also made to optimize the construction of rho-expression plasmids by adjusting the orientation and location of pL and rho inserts on the pBR322 vector. With optimal conditions, Rho protein is overexpressed 100-fold and can become as much as 10% of the total cellular protein. Using this plasmid system, Rho can be purified with a yield of more than 20 mg from 10 g of induced cells.     

High-level synthesis in Escherichia coli of the SV40 small-t antigen under control of the bacteriophage lambda pL promoter

Several plasmids were constructed in which the SV40 small-t antigen gene was inserted in close proximity downstream from the thermoinducible leftward promoter (pL) of bacteriophage lambda. Upon temperature induction the best of our constructions expressed a small-t-related 19 000-dalton polypeptide in an amount corresponding to approx. 2.5% of total de novo protein synthesis. This 19 000-dalton protein was identified as small-t by specific immunoprecipitation with anti-T serum and by two-dimensional fingerprint analysis. In addition to the 19 000-dalton product, representative plasmids expressed fairly large amounts (up to 7% of total de novo protein synthesis) of a protein with an apparent Mr of 14 500. This 14 500-dalton polypeptide was shown to be related to authentic small-t. Presumably the secondary structure of the mRNA starting at pL is such that translation initiation at an internal AUG codon of the small-t gene is favored over initiation at the true initiating codon.     

Construction of plasmid cloning vehicles that promote gene expression from the bacteriophage lambda pL promoter.

Two multiple-copy, ColE1-type, plasmid cloning vehicles, pHUB2 and pHUB4, have been constructed that carry four different single restriction sites down-stream from the phage lambda promoter pL. The promoting activity of pL is switched off at low temperature in the presence of a cIts gene that specifies a temperature-sensitive repressor but could be activated by heat induction. cIts was located either on the host chromosome, or on a second plasmid pRK248 that is compatible with the cloning vehicle, or on the vehicle itself. Three different restriction fragments, each carrying the gene trpA of Salmonella typhimurium or Shigella dysenteriae, have been inserted into the EcoRI, BamHI and SalI sites, respectively, of these plasmids and pL dependent expression of the inserted gene in Escherichia coli was determined by measuring the enzymatic activity of the trpA gene product. Heat induction resulted in a level of expression of trpA corresponding to 1 to 6.6% of the total soluble cell protein as trpA protein. The level of trpA protein production depended on the particular insert and the plasmid used.     

HIV-1Gag蛋白在大肠杆菌和重组杆状病毒系统中的高效表达及通用型温控原核表达载体的构建

将中国株HIV－1B亚型的gag全基因序列,克隆到杆状病毒表达载体pfastbacI中,构建了重组质粒pfastGag,利用细菌／杆状病毒表达系统筛选重组杆状病毒,在昆虫细胞中高效表达了HIV－1Gag蛋白。通过改造原核表达载体pBV220和pET28,构建了一种新的通用型温控原核表达载体质粒pVV5,该载体携带PrPl串联温控启功子及His—Tag纯化标签,利于目的蛋白表达与纯化。将HIV－1gag基因的1148一1857编码序列,分别插入到pVV5b、pET28b的相应位点,构建了重组表达质粒pEG1b、pEG7b,二者在不同受体菌中,表达重组蛋白的量分别占全菌体蛋白总量的42％和28％。利用IMAC金属螯合层析柱,对包涵体中的重组p24蛋白进行纯化,纯度超过80％;纯化后的重组蛋白可与HIV－1型标准阳性血清发生较强的免疫学反应。     

Overproduction of Escherichia coli NusA protein

The nusA gene of Escherichia coli has been cloned into the plasmid vector pKC30 under the control of the inducible lambda pL promoter. When a strain carrying this plasmid is induced, NusA protein is overproduced more than 100-fold and constitutes 20-30% of the total cellular protein. The NusA protein purified from this strain appears identical to authentic NusA protein in its migration on SDS polyacrylamide gels and on isoelectric focusing gels. It is also able to function properly in in vitro termination and antitermination assays and in its ability to bind to E. coli core RNA polymerase.     

Renaturation of cobra venom phospholipase A2 expressed from a synthetic gene in Escherichia coli.

Cobra venom (Naja naja naja) phospholipase A2 (PLA2) contains 14 cysteines in the form of 7 disulfide bonds amongst its 119 amino acids. A gene encoding the PLA2 was synthesized and inserted into a bacterial expression vector containing the phage lambda pL promoter. In order to obtain protein without the initiating methionine at the N-terminus, a Factor Xa site was engineered upstream from the PLA2 gene. Upon heat-induction of the cells transformed with the expression plasmid, the protein is produced as insoluble inclusion bodies. The enzyme was partially purified by washing the inclusion bodies with Triton X-100 and urea. The expressed protein was first denatured with 8 M guanidine-HCl and 10 mM DTT. After digestion with Factor Xa, formation of disulfide bonds and refolding into the fully active form was carried out in the presence of cysteine and Ca2+. The renatured recombinant protein was purified by Affi-gel blue column chromatography. The purified recombinant enzyme had the same specific activity as the native enzyme when assayed on a variety of substrates and cross-reacted with antisera prepared against the native enzyme. This is the first report of the expression of a recombinant PLA2 from any venom.     

Purification and properties of Gal repressor:pL-galR fusion in pKC31 plasmid vector

The galR gene, which encodes the Gal repressor protein in Escherichia coli, has been fused to the strong pL promoter of bacteriophage lambda in plasmid pKC31. The pL promoter is kept repressed by a thermolabilie lambda repressor, CIts857, to prevent cell killing. Heat induction of the pL-galR fusion plasmid synthesizes large amounts of active Gal repressor. The protein has been purified to homogeneity in three steps. The purification is greatly aided by the reversible insolubility of active repressor in crude extract at salt concentrations of less than 200 mM. The amino-terminal amino acid sequence determined by automated Edman degradation is: N-Ala-Thr-Ile-Lys-Asp-Val-Ala-Arg-Leu-Ala-Gly-Val-Ser-Val-Ala-Thr-Val-. Comparison of this sequence with that deduced from the DNA sequence of the galR gene showed that the formyl methionine residue preceding alanine at position 1 is cleaved off. The repressor is present in solution as a dimer of a 37-kDa subunit. The protein binds to gal DNA containing wild type and not mutant operator sequences. As predicted, this sequence-specific binding is inhibited by the presence of D-galactose or D-fucose, both of which are in vivo inducers of the gal operon. Gal repressor inhibits the expresison of gal operon by binding to two spatially separated operators which flank, but do not overlap, the gal promoter segment. Experiments to study the mechanism of repressor action are discussed.     

Synthesis in Escherichia coli of the reovirus nonstructural protein sigma NS.

The coding region of reovirus type 3 genomic segment S3, encoding the nonstructural protein sigma NS, was placed under the control of the bacteriophage lambda pL promoter in the Escherichia coli expression plasmid pRC23 (J.C. Lacal, E. Santos, V. Notario, M. Barbacid, S. Yamazaki, H.-F. Kung, C. Seamans, S. McAndrew, and R. Crowl, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81:5305-5309). Derepression of the pL promoter led to the synthesis of a protein of the same molecular weight as sigma NS produced in reovirus-infected L cells. The expressed protein was indistinguishable from authentic sigma NS by peptide mapping with Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease and by immunoblot analysis. Most importantly, the purified protein had nucleic acid-binding properties similar to that previously shown for sigma NS obtained from infected cells. Binding of single-stranded RNAs by recombinant sigma NS protein was inhibited by GTP.     

Extracellular production of cloned alpha-amylase by Escherichia coli

Overexpression of Bacillus stearothermophilus gene coding for thermostable alpha-amylase in Escherichia coli was shown to cause outer-membrane damage leading to extracellular location of periplasmic proteins. Prolonged high expression of the alpha-amylase gene under lacZpo control eventually also lysed cells. Surprisingly, expression controlled by the pL promoter of phage lambda allowed specific release of periplasmic proteins into the growth medium without total cell lysis. Accumulation of alpha-amylase in the growth medium continued for at least 24 h under lambda pL control, whereas beta-lactamase activity ceased to increase beyond the exponential growth phase. The extent of outer membrane damage caused by alpha-amylase expression was monitored by following growth kinetics in the presence of lysozyme and by electron microscopy of the cells. Supplementing growth medium with Mg2+ restored the normal growth kinetics. It is suggested that periplasmic protein release caused by alpha-amylase overexpression is a stress response of the cell. A role for induced autolytic activity of the cell as a final effector of protein release is also proposed.