Production of membrane proteins using cell-free expression systems

Different overexpression systems are widely used in the laboratory to produce proteins in a reasonable amount for functional and structural studies. However, to optimize these systems without modifying the cellular functions of the living organism remains a challenging task. Cell-free expression systems have become a convenient method for the high-throughput expression of recombinant proteins, and great effort has been focused on generating high yields of proteins. Furthermore, these systems represent an attractive alternative for producing difficult-to-express proteins, such as membrane proteins. In this review, we highlight the recent improvements of these cell-free expression systems and their direct applications in the fields of membrane proteins production, protein therapy and modern proteomics.     

Production of membrane proteins using cell-free expression systems

Production of membrane proteins (MPs) is a challenging task as their hydrophobic nature and their specific requirements in cellular expression systems frequently prevent an efficient synthesis. Cell-free (CF) expression systems have been developed in recent times as promising tools by offering completely new approaches to synthesize MPs directly into artificial hydrophobic environments. A considerable variety of CF produced MPs has been characterized by functional and structural approaches and the high success rates and the rapidly accumulating data on quality and expression efficiencies increasingly attract attention. In addition, CF expression is a highly dynamic and versatile technique and new modifications for improved performance as well as for extended applications for the labeling, throughput expression and proteomic analysis of MPs are rapidly emerging.     

Crystallization of the membrane protein hVDAC1 produced in cell-free system

Structural studies of membrane proteins are in constant evolution with the development of new improvements for their expression, purification, stabilization and crystallization. However, none of these methods still provides a universal approach to solve the structure of membrane proteins. Here we describe the crystallization of the human voltage-dependent anion channel-1 produced by a bacterial cell-free expression system. While VDAC structures have been recently solved, we propose an alternative strategy for producing the recombinant protein, which can be applied to other membrane proteins reluctant to expression, purification and crystallization by classical approaches. Despite a lot of efforts to crystallize a cell-free expressed membrane protein, this study is to our knowledge one of the first reports of a successful crystallization. Focusing on expression in a soluble and functional state, in a detergent environment, is the key to get crystals. Although the diffraction of VDAC crystals is limited, the simplicity and the rapidity to set-up and optimize this technology are drastic advantages in comparison to other methods.     

Rapid expression of vaccine proteins for B-cell lymphoma in a cell-free system

The idiotype (Id)-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) fusion proteins are potential vaccines for immunotherapy of B-cell lymphoma. In this study, four vaccine candidates were constructed by fusing murine GM-CSF to the amino- or carboxy-terminus of the 38C13 murine B-lymphocyte Id scFv with two different arrangements of the variable regions of the heavy chain and light chain (VL-VH and VH-VL). scFv (VH-VL) and GM-CSF/scFv fusion proteins were expressed in an Escherichia coli cell-free protein synthesis system. In order to promote disulfide bond formation during cell-free expression, cell extract was pretreated with iodoacetamide (IAM), and a sulfhydryl redox buffer composed of oxidized and reduced glutathione was added. The E. coli periplasmic disulfide isomerase, DsbC, was also added to rearrange incorrectly formed disulfide linkages. The 38C13 B-lymphocyte Id scFv was expressed with 30% of its soluble yield in active form (43 microg/ml) when tested with an anti-idiotypic mAb, S1C5, as the capture antibody in radioimmunoassay. It was found that the amino-terminal GM-CSF fusion proteins, GM-VL-VH and GM-VH-VL, showed much higher activity than the carboxy-terminal GM-CSF fusion proteins, VL-VH-GM and VH-VL-GM, in stimulating the cell proliferation of a GM-CSF-dependent cell line, NFS-60. Between the two amino-terminal GM-CSF fusion proteins, GM-VL-VH showed a higher total and soluble yield than GM-VH-VL.     

Insertion of membrane proteins into discoidal membranes using a cell-free protein expression approach

We report a cell-free approach for expressing and inserting integral membrane proteins into water-soluble particles composed of discoidal apolipoprotein-lipid bilayers. Proteins are inserted into the particles, circumventing the need of extracting and reconstituting the product into membrane vesicles. Moreover, the planar nature of the membrane support makes the protein freely accessible from both sides of the lipid bilayer. Complexes are successfully purified by means of the apoplipoprotein component or by the carrier protein. The method significantly enhances the solubility of a variety of membrane proteins with different functional roles and topologies. Analytical assays for a subset of model membrane proteins indicate that proteins are correctly folded and active. The approach provides a platform amenable to high-throughput structural and functional characterization of a variety of traditionally intractable drug targets.     

Evaluation of detergents for the soluble expression of alpha-helical and beta-barrel-type integral membrane proteins by a preparative scale individual cell-free expression system

Cell-free expression has become a highly promising tool for the fast and efficient production of integral membrane proteins. The proteins can be produced as precipitates that solubilize in mild detergents usually without any prior denaturation steps. Alternatively, membrane proteins can be synthesized in a soluble form by adding detergents to the cell-free system. However, the effects of a representative variety of detergents on the production, solubility and activity of a wider range of membrane proteins upon cell-free expression are currently unknown. We therefore analyzed the cell-free expression of three structurally very different membrane proteins, namely the bacterial alpha-helical multidrug transporter, EmrE, the beta-barrel nucleoside transporter, Tsx, and the porcine vasopressin receptor of the eukaryotic superfamily of G-protein coupled receptors. All three membrane proteins could be produced in amounts of several mg per one ml of reaction mixture. In general, the detergent 1-myristoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-[phospho-rac-(1-glycerol)] was found to be most effective for the resolubilization of membrane protein precipitates, while long chain polyoxyethylene-alkyl-ethers proved to be most suitable for the soluble expression of all three types of membrane proteins. The yield of soluble expressed membrane protein remained relatively stable above a certain threshold concentration of the detergents. We report, for the first time, the high-level cell-free expression of a beta-barrel type membrane protein in a functional form. Structural and functional variations of the analyzed membrane proteins are evident that correspond with the mode of expression and that depend on the supplied detergent.     

Early disulfide bond formation prevents heterotypic aggregation of membrane proteins in a cell-free translation system

We previously demonstrated that a heterotypic complex of the two rat asialoglycoprotein receptor subunits was assembled during cell-free translation (Sawyer, J. T., and D. Doyle. 1990. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 87:4854-4858). We have characterized this system further by analyzing polypeptide interactions under both reducing and oxidizing translation conditions. This report shows that the complex represents a heterogeneous interaction between reduced membrane proteins rather than a specific oligomeric structure. In the reduced state membrane proteins interact in this system to form aggregates of diverse size and composition. The aggregated nascent polypeptides interact with the immunoglobulin heavy chain binding protein but this protein is not an integral component of the aggregate. Aggregation occurs via the exoplasmic domain, rather than the transmembrane domain, and the folding of this domain by the formation of intramolecular disulfides, prevents the interaction from occurring. Additionally, the folded molecules containing intramolecular disulfides lack high affinity binding activity and thus appear to resemble the earliest folding intermediates seen in vivo (Olson, J. T., and M. D. Lane. 198. FASEB (Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.) J. 3:1618-1624). These results lead us to suggest that the formation of intramolecular disulfides during early biogenesis serves to prevent nonspecific associations between nascent polypeptides.     

Preparative scale expression of membrane proteins in Escherichia coli-based continuous exchange cell-free systems

Cell-free expression is emerging as a prime method for the rapid production of preparative quantities of high-quality membrane protein samples. The technology facilitates easy access to large numbers of proteins that have been extremely difficult to obtain. Most frequently used are cell-free systems based on extracts of Escherichia coli cells, and the reaction procedures are reliable and efficient. This protocol describes the preparation of all essential reaction components such as the E. coli cell extract, T7 RNA polymerase, DNA templates as well as the individual stock solutions. The setups of expression reactions in analytical and preparative scales, including a variety of reaction designs, are illustrated. We provide detailed reaction schemes that allow the preparation of milligram amounts of functionally folded membrane proteins of prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin in less than 24 h.     

Production and partial purification of membrane proteins using a liposome-supplemented wheat cell-free translation system

Background  

Recently, some groups have reported on cell-free synthesis of functional membrane proteins (MPs) in the presence of exogenous liposomes (liposomes). Previously, we reported synthesis of a functional AtPPT1 plant phosphate transporter that was associated with liposomes during translation. However, it is unclear whether or not lipid/MP complex formation is common to all types of MPs in the wheat cell-free system.     

Chromophore maturation and fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy of fluorescent proteins in a cell-free expression system

Cell-free synthesis, a method for the rapid expression of proteins, is increasingly used to study interactions of complex biological systems. GFP and its variants have become indispensable for fluorescence studies in live cells and are equally attractive as reporters for cell-free systems. This work investigates the use of fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (FFS) as a tool for quantitative analysis of protein interactions in cell-free expression systems. We also explore chromophore maturation of fluorescent proteins, which is of crucial importance for fluorescence studies. A droplet sample protocol was developed that ensured sufficient oxygenation for chromophore maturation and ease of manipulation for titration studies. The kinetics of chromophore maturation of EGFP, EYFP, and mCherry were analyzed as a function of temperature. A strong increase in the rate from room temperature to 37°C was observed. We further demonstrate that all EGFP proteins fully mature in the cell-free solution and that brightness is a robust parameter specifying stoichiometry. Finally, FFS is applied to study the stoichiometry of the nuclear transport factor 2 in a cell-free system over a broad concentration range. We conclude that combining cell-free expression and FFS provides a powerful technique for quick, quantitative study of chromophore maturation and protein-protein interaction.     

Development of a minimal cell-free translation system for the synthesis of presecretory and integral membrane proteins

By combining translation and membrane integration/translocation systems, we have constructed a novel cell-free system for the production of presecretory and integral membrane proteins in vitro. A totally defined, cell-free system reconstituted from a minimal number of translation factors was supplemented with urea-washed inverted membrane vesicles (U-INVs) prepared from Escherichia coli, as well as with purified proteins mediating membrane targeting of presecretory and integral membrane proteins. Initially, efficient membrane translocation of a presecretory protein (pOmpA) was obtained simply by the addition of only SecA and SecB. Proteinase K digestion clearly showed the successful translocation of pOmpA inside the vesicles. Next, integration of an inner membrane protein (MtlA) into U-INVs was achieved in the presence of only SRP (Ffh) and SR (FtsY). Finally, a membrane protein possessing a large periplasmic region (FtsQ) and therefore requiring both factors (SRP/SR and SecA/SecB) for membrane integration/translocation was also shown to be integrated correctly in this cell-free system. Thus, our novel cell-free system provides not only an efficient strategy for the production of membrane-related proteins but also an improved platform for the biological study of protein translocation and integration mechanisms.     

High-throughput cell-free systems for synthesis of functionally active proteins

Continuous cell-free translation systems with perpetual supply of consumable substrates and removal of reaction products made the process of in vitro synthesis of individual proteins sustainable and productive. Improvements of cell-free reaction mixtures, including new ways for efficient energy generation, had an additional impact on progress in cell-free protein synthesis technology. The requirement for gene-product identification in genomic studies, the development of high-throughput structural proteomics, the need for protein engineering without cell constraints (including the use of unnatural amino acids), and the need to produce cytotoxic, poorly expressed and unstable proteins have caused increased interest in cell-free protein synthesis technologies for molecular biologists, biotechnologists and pharmacologists.     

Tuning the expression level of recombinant proteins by modulating mRNA stability in a cell-free protein synthesis system

In this work, it was discovered that the stability of mRNA in a cell-free extract could be controlled by using engineered T7 terminator sequences. Specifically, it was found that mRNA stability gradually decreased as the length of the stem structure of the T7 terminator was reduced sequentially. As a result of the controlled abundance of mRNA species, it was possible to manipulate the relative expression level of target proteins by employing the T7 terminator of adjusted stem lengths.     

Posttranslational incorporation of contractile proteins into myofibrils in a cell-free system

The incorporation of newly synthesized protein into myofibrils has been examined in a cell-free system. Myofibrils were added to a reticulocyte lysate after the in vitro translation of muscle-specific poly(A)+RNA. Only a small number of the many synthesized proteins were found to associate with the exogenously added myofibrils. These proteins were all identified as sarcomeric components and had subunit mobilities (Mr) of 200, 140, 95, 86, 43, 38, 35, 25, 23, 20, and 18 kD. The association was rapid (t1/2 less than 15 min) and, for most of the proteins, relatively temperature insensitive. Except for a 43-kD polypeptide, tentatively identified as beta-actin, none of the proteins encoded by brain poly(A)+RNA associated with the myofibrils. When filaments made from purified myosin or actin were used as the "capture" substrates, only thick or thin filament proteins, respectively, were incorporated. Incorporation was substantially reduced when cross-linked myosin filaments were used. These results are compatible with a model in which proteins of the sarcomere are in kinetic equilibrium with homologous proteins in a soluble pool.     

Expression screening of membrane proteins with cell-free protein synthesis

Detailed biophysical studies of integral membrane proteins are often hampered by sample preparation difficulties. Membrane proteins are typically difficult to express in sufficient amounts to enable the use of demanding techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray crystallography for structural biology. Here, we show that an inexpensive batch-based cell-free expression system can be a viable alternative for production of a wide range of different membrane proteins, both of prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin. Out of 38 tested protein constructs, 37 express at levels suitable for structural biology, i.e. enough to produce several milligrams of protein routinely and without excessive costs. This success rate was not anticipated and is even more impressive considering that more than half of the expressed proteins where of mammalian origin. A detergent screen identified Brij-58 as the, in general, most successful choice for co-translational solubilization of the expressed proteins.