Fermentation and purification of lacZ-fused single chain insulin precursor for (B30-homoserine) human insulin

In order to produce the single chain precursor of a novel human insulin analogue, (B³⁰-homoserine) insulin, the fermentative behaviors ofEscherichia coli JM103 were studied, which harbors pKBA plasmid carrying a hybrid gene in which the gene for a single chain precursor was fused withlacZ gene undertac promoter. The maximal induction of gene expression was achieved when more than 0.05 mM of isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was supplemented to fermentation medium after 4 h cultivation ofE. coli, and followed by longer than 2-h fermentation. The hybrid protein of the single chain insulin precursor was isolated from cytoplasmic inclusion bodies by dissolving in 8M urea solution, and purified through DEAE-Sephacel and Sephadex G-200 column chromatographies with a recovery of 35%. The finally purified hybrid protein showed a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel.     

Generation of a histidine-tagged antibotulinum toxin antibody fragment in E. coli: effects of post-induction temperature on yield and IMAC binding-affinity

Recombinant E. coli clones expressing a 50-kDa poly-histidine tail tagged antibody fragment against botulinum toxin (bt-Fab) were initially screened for yield and binding affinity. One clone was selected for bioprocess development. The selected bt-Fab vector was induced by addition of IPTG and the protein was targeted to the periplasm by inclusion of a pelB leader sequence. A histidine₆ affinity ligand at the heavy chain C-terminus facilitated single-step purification by immobilized metal-affinity chromatography (IMAC). Notably, the effects of post-induction temperature on bt-Fab expression and downstream purification were evaluated. Our results demonstrated that fermentation conditions interfered with purification on the IMAC column at 37°C. Protease analysis by gelatin polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (GPAGE) indicated the presence of a membrane-bound ∼39 kDa protease activity shortly after induction. The appearance of the protease activity was inversely correlated with the bt-Fab yield. The protease was purified and was shown to degrade bt-Fab. A simple kinetic model was developed describing temporal regulation of protease and bt-Fab degradation. Partially degraded bt-Fab was unrecoverable by IMAC, presumably due to the loss of the His₆ affinity ligand. The amount of purified bt-Fab obtained per liter of fermentation broth was typically ∼1 mg. Received 18 August 1997/ Accepted in revised form 4 October 1998     

Production and purification of the phosphoprotein of Nipah virus in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> for use in diagnostic assays

Nipah Virus (NiV) is an emerging zoonotic paramyxovirus that can be fatal in humans and various types of animals. The phospho (P) protein of NiV plays an important role in RNA synthesis, replication, and genome synthesis. In this study, the NiV P gene was cloned into a pTrcHis2-TOPO vector and the recombinant protein containing a His-tag was produced in Escherichia coli. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis using the anti-His antibody confirmed the protein expression. An optimization study of E. coli fermentation showed that the optimal cultivation temperature was 37°C, while the optimal induction time for P protein expression was at 9 h with 1 mM IPTG. Solubility analysis showed that E. coli cultivated at 37°C produced the highest fraction (70%) of soluble P protein. The recombinant P protein was purified from clarified E. coli lysate using an immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) technique to a purity of 92.67%, with a purification factor of 11.58. The purified P protein strongly reacted with the anti-NiV swine sera collected during a NiV outbreak, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic reagent.     

Immobilized palladium(II) ion affinity chromatography for recovery of recombinant proteins with peptide tags containing histidine and cysteine

Fusion of peptide‐based tags to recombinant proteins is currently one of the most used tools for protein production. Also, immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) has a huge application in protein purification, especially in research labs. The combination of expression systems of recombinant tagged proteins with this robust chromatographic system has become an efficient and rapid tool to produce milligram‐range amounts of proteins. IMAC‐Ni(II) columns have become the natural partners of 6xHis‐tagged proteins. The Ni(II) ion is considered as the best compromise of selectivity and affinity for purification of a recombinant His‐tagged protein. The palladium(II) ion is also able to bind to side chains of amino acids and form ternary complexes with iminodiacetic acid and free amino acids and other sulfur‐containing molecules. In this work, we evaluated two different cysteine‐ and histidine‐containing six amino acid tags linked to the N‐terminal group of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and studied the adsorption and elution conditions using novel eluents. Both cysteine‐containing tagged GFPs were able to bind to IMAC‐Pd(II) matrices and eluted successfully using a low concentration of thiourea solution. The IMAC‐Ni(II) system reaches less than 20% recovery of the cysteine‐containing tagged GFP from a crude homogenate of recombinant Escherichia coli, meanwhile the IMAC‐Pd(II) yields a recovery of 45% with a purification factor of 13. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel matrix derivatized from hydrophilic gigaporous polystyrene-based microspheres for high-speed immobilized-metal affinity chromatography

Agarose coated gigaporous polystyrene microspheres were evaluated as a novel matrix for immobilized-metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). With four steps, nickel ions were successfully immobilized on the microspheres. The gigaporous structure and chromatographic properties of IMAC medium were characterized. A column packed with the matrix showed low column backpressure and high column efficiency at high flow velocity. Furthermore, this matrix was used for purifying superoxide dismutase (SOD), which was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) in submerged fermentation, on an Äkta purifier 100 system under different flow velocities. The purity of the SOD from this one-step purification was 79% and the recovery yield was about 89.6% under the superficial flow velocity of 3251 cm/h. In conclusion, all the results suggested that the gigaporous matrix has considerable advantages for high-speed immobilized-metal affinity chromatography.     

Production,IMAC purification,and molecular modeling of N-carbamoyl-D-amino acid amidohydrolase C-terminally fused with a six-his peptide

A six-His peptide was genetically engineered to the C-terminus of Agrobacterium radiobacter N-carbamoyl-D-amino acid amidohydrolase monomer to facilitate the protein purification with immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The fusion enzyme, named as DCaseH, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and one-step IMAC-purified. The production study showed that DCaseH was optimally produced at 15 degrees C for 25 h by the induction of 0.05 mM IPTG. Both Co(2+)-chelated TANOL gels and Ni(2+)-chelated nitriloacetic acid agarose gels efficiently purified DCaseH, with the former yielding purer enzyme than the latter. Highly pure DCaseH was obtained in the former purification with the addition of 5 mM imidazole in the washing buffer, and the specific enzyme activity was increased more than 11-fold. Denaturing IMAC purification successfully purified DCaseH from inclusion bodies that were mostly composed of the overexpressed DCaseH, while the attempt to refold the purified enzyme by either dialysis or solid-state refolding was not achieved. The purified native enzyme was optimally active at pH 6.5 and 50 degrees C, and the presence of 10% glycerol increased the activity. The molecular modeling of dimeric DCaseH indicated that the six-His tags were freely exposed to the protein surface, resulting in the selective and effective IMAC purification of DCaseH.     

Inactivation of herpes simplex type 1 gene vector on immobilized metal affinity chromatography: oxidative damage by hydroxyl free radicals and its prevention

Metal catalyzed oxidation (MCO), which typically involves oxygen free radical generation, is an important pathway that leads to the deterioration of many biological molecules in solution. The occurrence of MCO in immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) systems and its potential for inactivating biological products has not been well recognized. In this study, we report the inactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) gene therapy vector on immobilized cobalt affinity chromatography. We observed that purification of KgBHAT, an HSV-1 mutant bearing cobalt affinity tags (HAT) on the surface, on an IDA-Co2+ column using crude supernatant as starting material resulted in signification loss in virus infectivity (<5% recovery). Electron spin resonance (ESR) revealed that the virus inactivation was caused by hydroxyl free radicals generated from the interactions between cellular impurities and the metal ions on the column. Inclusion of 20 mM ascorbate, a free radical scavenger, in the chromatography mobile phase effectively scavenged the hydroxyl radicals and dramatically augmented the infectivity recovery to 70%. This finding is the first demonstration of oxygen free radical-mediated biological inactivation in an actual IMAC purification and the way on how to effectively prevent it.     

Purification of recombinant Arabidopsis thaliana dehydrins by metal ion affinity chromatography

In this study we describe a novel method for purification of Arabidopsis thaliana dehydrins overproduced in Escherichia coli. The cDNAs corresponding to the four dehydrin genes RAB18, LTI29, LTI30, and COR47 were inserted into a bacterial expression vector under an isopropyl beta-d-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) inducible bacterial promoter. After IPTG induction all four proteins accumulated in high amounts. The recombinant proteins were efficiently purified to over 95% purity with a three-step purification scheme: heat fractionation, immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC), and ion exchange chromatography. In this study we introduce the novel use of IMAC as an efficient purification method for native dehydrins. Characterization of the purified proteins was done by Edman degradation, mass spectrometry, reverse-phase chromatography, and analytical gel filtration under native and denaturing conditions. Yields of purified proteins were between 2.8 and 12.5 mg per liter of bacterial culture, sufficient for further biochemical studies.     

Eukaryotic integral membrane protein expression utilizing the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> glycerol-conducting channel protein (GlpF)

A fusion protein expression system is described that allows for production of eukaryotic integral membrane proteins in Escherichia coli (E. coli). The eukaryotic membrane protein targets are fused to the C terminus of the highly expressed E. coli inner membrane protein, GlpF (the glycerol-conducting channel protein). The generic utility of this system for heterologous membrane-protein expression is demonstrated by the expression and insertion into the E. coli cell membrane of the human membrane proteins: occludin, claudin 4, duodenal ferric reductase and a J-type inwardly rectifying potassium channel. The proteins are produced with C-terminal hexahistidine tags (to permit purification of the expressed fusion proteins using immobilized metal affinity chromatography) and a peptidase cleavage site (to allow recovery of the unfused eukaryotic protein).     

Efficient secretory production of alkaline phosphatase by high cell density culture of recombinant Escherichia coli using the Bacillus sp. endoxylanase signal sequence

New secretion vectors containing the Bacillus sp. endoxylanase signal sequence were constructed for the secretory production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. The E. coli alkaline phosphatase structural gene fused to the endoxylanase signal sequence was expressed from the trc promoter in various E. coli strains by induction with IPTG. Among those tested, E. coli HB101 showed the highest efficiency of secretion (up to 25.3% of total proteins). When cells were induced with 1 mM IPTG, most of the secreted alkaline phosphatase formed inclusion bodies in the periplasm. However, alkaline phosphatase could be produced as a soluble form without reduction of expression level by inducing with less (0.01 mM) IPTG, and greater than 90% of alkaline phosphatase could be recovered from the periplasm by the simple osmotic shock method. Fed-batch cultures were carried out to examine the possibility of secretory protein production at high cell density. Up to 5.2 g/l soluble alkaline phosphatase could be produced in the periplasm by the pH-stat fed-batch cultivation of E. coli HB101 harboring pTrcS1PhoA. These results demonstrate the possibility of efficient secretory production of recombinant proteins in E. coli by high cell density cultivation. Received: 8 September 1999 / Received revision: 3 January 2000 / Accepted 4 January 2000     

Recovery and purification of aprotinin from industrial insulin-processing effluent by immobilized chymotrypsin and negative IMAC chromatographies

Aprotinin, a bovine protease inhibitor currently also produced in recombinant bacteria, yeast, and corn, has valuable applications as a human therapeutic and in tissue culture. The objective of this work was to develop the basis of a large-scale aprotinin purification process centered on immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). This technique uses ligands—metal ions—of a lower cost and higher stability than those traditionally used in affinity chromatography. Since aprotinin does not interact with IMAC ligands, collection is from the nonretained fractions (negative chromatography). Stirred-tank batch IMAC adsorption experiments indicated that one-step aprotinin purification could not be successful. Immobilized chymotrypsin chromatography was then used as a prepurification step, yielding a suitable feed for IMAC (with purification factors as high as 476). IMAC column fed with these prepurified materials produced purified aprotinin in the nonretained fractions with purification factors as high as 952.     

Localization and characterization of inclusion bodies in recombinant Escherichia coli cells overproducing penicillin G acylase

Various concentrations of isopropyl β-d-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) were used to induce production of the enzyme penicillin G acylase by recom binant Escherichia coli harboring plasmid pQEA11. The plasmid pQEA11 carries a wild-type pga gene, which is under the control of the tac promoter and lacI ^q. At low IPTG concentrations (0.025 – 0.1 mM), enzyme activity increased with increasing IPTG concentrations. At higher IPTG concentrations (0.2 and 0.5 mM), enzyme activity declined progressively. Examination of induced recombinant E. coli cells by transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of only periplasmic inclusion bodies at low IPTG concentrations (up to 0.1 mM) and both periplasmic and cytoplasmic inclusion bodies at high IPTG concentrations (0.2 mM and 0.5 mM). Results from sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblots of whole-cell proteins, membrane proteins and inclusion body proteins in these cells indicated that cytoplasmic inclusion bodies constituted an accumulation of preproenzyme (i.e., precursor polypeptide containing a signal peptide) and that periplasmic inclusion bodies constituted an accumulation of proenzyme (i.e., precursor polypeptide lacking a signal peptide). Received: 27 March 1996 / Received revision: 2 July 1996 / Accepted: 10 November 1996     

Single-step purification of recombinant green fluorescent protein on expanded beds of immobilized metal affinity chromatography media

Immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) in expanded bed mode is used for purifying recombinant green fluorescent protein (GFP) overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The purification is carried out on two different matrices, i.e. Ni²⁺ Streamline™ and Ni²⁺ cross-linked alginate beads. The binding isotherms to both IMAC media followed the Langmuir model. The maximum binding capacity (q_max) of Ni²⁺ Streamline™ and Ni²⁺ cross-linked alginate for the GFP was 1,42,860 FU ml⁻¹ and 18,000 FU ml⁻¹, respectively. The expanded bed column chromatography using Ni²⁺ Streamline™ gave 2.7-fold purification with 89% of GFP recovery, while Ni²⁺ alginate gave 3.1-fold purification with 91% of GFP recovery. SDS-PAGE of purified GFP in both cases showed single band. The results obtained in the expanded bed chromatography are compared with those obtained in packed bed chromatography.     

Purification of synthetic peptides. Immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC).

Immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) is a useful method for purification of synthetic peptides with an N-terminal metal-binding amino acid such as His, Trp, or Cys, especially when such residues are not present in other parts of the molecule. In solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), capping with acetic anhydride will, in principle, produce truncated peptides as the only side-products due to incomplete couplings. Consequently, only the desired product will carry the affinity label. Most of the impurities, therefore, can be removed by a single passage through an IMAC column. Some representative examples are presented, where fairly large peptides (30-40 amino acid residues) were efficiently purified by this approach.     

Immobilized metal affinity chromatography in the presence of arginine

Arginine hydrochloride (ArgHCl) is a versatile solvent additive, as it suppresses protein aggregation. ArgHCl has been used for protein refolding and to solubilize proteins from loose inclusion bodies. Immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) is one of the most commonly used technologies for purification of recombinant proteins. Here we have evaluated compatibility of ArgHCl with IMAC purification for his-tag proteins. ArgHCl clearly interfered with protein binding to Ni-columns. Nevertheless, such interference was greatly reduced at ArgHCl concentration below 200 mM, demonstrating that IMAC purification can be done even in the presence of ArgHCl.     

N‐terminal processing of affinity‐tagged recombinant proteins purified by IMAC procedures

The ability of a new class of metal binding tags to facilitate the purification of recombinant proteins, exemplified by the tagged glutathione S‐transferase and human growth hormone, from Escherichia coli fermentation broths and lysates has been further investigated. These histidine‐containing tags exhibit high affinity for borderline metal ions chelated to the immobilised ligand, 1,4,7‐triazacyclononane (tacn). The use of this tag‐tacn immobilised metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) system engenders high selectivity with regard to host cell protein removal and permits facile tag removal from the E. coli‐expressed recombinant protein. In particular, these tags were specifically designed to enable their efficient removal by the dipeptidyl aminopeptidase 1 (DAP‐1), thus capturing the advantages of high substrate specificity and rates of cleavage. MALDI‐TOF MS analysis of the cleaved products from the DAP‐1 digestion of the recombinant N‐terminally tagged proteins confirmed the complete removal of the tag within 4‐12 h under mild experimental conditions. Overall, this study demonstrates that the use of tags specifically designed to target tacn‐based IMAC resins offers a comprehensive and flexible approach for the purification of E. coli‐expressed recombinant proteins, where complete removal of the tag is an essential prerequisite for subsequent application of the purified native proteins in studies aimed at delineating the molecular and cellular basis of specific biological processes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nanoprobe-based immobilized metal affinity chromatography for sensitive and complementary enrichment of multiply phosphorylated peptides

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP, <100 nm) have rapidly evolved as sensitive affinity probes for phosphopeptide enrichment. By taking advantage of the easy magnetic separation and flexible surface modification of the MNP, we developed a surface‐blocked, nanoprobe‐based immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (NB‐IMAC) method for the enhanced purification of multiply phosphorylated peptides. The NB‐IMAC method allowed rapid and specific one‐step enrichment by blocking the surface of titanium (IV) ion‐charged nitrilotriacetic acid‐conjugated MNP (Ti⁴⁺‐NTA‐PEG@MNP) with low molecular weight polyethylene glycol. The MNP demonstrated highly sensitive and unbiased extraction of both mono‐ and multiply phosphorylated peptides from diluted β‐casein (2×10^?10 M). Without chemical derivation or fractionation, 1283 phosphopeptides were identified from 400 μg of Raji B cells with 80% purification specificity. We also showed the first systematic comparison on the particle size effect between nano‐sclae IMAC and micro‐scale IMAC. Inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) analysis revealed that MNP had a 4.6‐fold higher capacity for metal ions per unit weight than did the magnetic micro‐sized particle (MMP, 2–10 μm), resulting in the identification of more phosphopeptides as well as a higher percentage of multiply phosphorylated peptides (31%) at the proteome scale. Furthermore, NB‐IMAC complements chromatography‐based IMAC and TiO₂ methods because <13% of mono‐ and 12% of multiply phosphorylated peptide identifications overlapped among the 2700 phosphopeptides identified by the three methods. Notably, the number of multiply phosphorylated peptides was enriched twofold and threefold by NB‐IMAC relative to micro‐scale IMAC and TiO₂, respectively. NB‐IMAC is an innovative material for increasing the identification coverage in phosphoproteomics.     

Purification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bm</Emphasis>R1 Recombinant Protein

This paper describes a refinement in the purification step that facilitated the downstream recovery of high purity BmR1 recombinant protein, which is a protein used as a test reagent in the commercialized rapid tests for detection of lymphac filariasis i.e. Brugia Rapid^TM and panLF rapid^TM. Purification was performed by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), followed by ion exchange chromatography (IEX). Results showed that a total of 10.27 mg of BmR1 was obtained when IMAC was performed using 20 mM of imidazole and 5 column volume of wash buffer containing 500 mM of NaCl. Purity of the target protein was enhanced when buffer at pH 5.8 was used during the IEX. Two proteins that recurrently appeared below the BmR1 recombinant protein were identified by mass-spectrometry analysis as the same protein, thus they were probably degradation products of BmR1. These strategies improve purity of the target protein to be used in applications such as production of aptamers and monoclonal antibodies.     

Purification of human serum amyloid P component (SAP) by calcium affinity chromatography

Serum amyloid P component (SAP) has been purified from human serum by means of immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). It was selectively concentrated on carboxymethylated aspartic acid agarose (CM-Asp-agarose) loaded with calcium and, employing very mild conditions, purified to electrophoretical and immunological homogeneity in a single step amounting to about 1900-fold purification. As a purification method our procedure thus compares well with bio-specific affinity chromatography.