Functional expression, purification, and characterization of human Flt3 ligand in the Pichia pastoris system

Flt3 ligand (FL) is a potent hematopoietic cytokine that affects the growth and differentiation of hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells both in vivo and in vitro. Pichia pastoris transformants secreting high-level rhFL were obtained using 'yeastern blotting' method and the expression level in liquid was about 30 mg/L. rhFL was purified to about 95% purity with overnight dialysis, filtration and an anion-exchange step. Further purification steps employing Sephacryl S-200 and reverse-phase HPLC raised the purity to over 99%. The purified rhFL possessed correct N-terminal amino acid sequence and positive Western blotting bands. SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry analysis showed molecular weight of rhFL was about 21 and 34 kDa, suggesting that rhFL was glycosylated. The result of capillary electrophoresis showed that its pI is 3.12-4.72. Endo H deglycosylation analysis indicated that there was O-glycosylation besides N-glycosylation in rhFL secreted from P. pastoris. Bioactivity assay showed that the purified rhFL had dose-dependent expansion activity on bone marrow nucleated cells.     

Secretory expression and purification of the recombinant duck interleukin-2 in Pichia pastoris

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a vital cytokine secreted by activated T lymphocytes, and plays an important role in the regulation of cellular functions and immunity of animals. In this study, the recombinant duck IL-2 (rduIL-2) was secretory expressed in Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris). The recombinant P. pastoris strain was cultured in shake flasks and then scaled up in a 5.0-l bioreactor. The result showed that the maximal fresh-cell-weight of 594.1 g/l and the maximal OD600 of 408 were achieved in the bioreactor. The rduIL-2 was purified by two steps of purification procedures, and approximately 311 mg of rduIL-2/L fermentation supernatant was obtained. SDS-PAGE showed that the purified rduIL-2 constituted a homogeneous band of ~16 kDa or ~14 kDa corresponding to the glycosylated or non-glycosylated duIL-2 protein in size, respectively. The bioactivity of rduIL-2 was determined by lymphocyte proliferation assay. The result indicated that the rduIL-2 greatly promoted the proliferation of ConA-stimulated lymphocytes in vitro. The P. pastoris expression system described here could provide promising, inexpensive, and large-scale production of the rduIL-2, which lays the foundation for development of novel immunoadjuvants to enhance both the immunity of ducks against various infectious pathogens and vaccine efficacy.     

Choline-binding domain as a novel affinity tag for purification of fusion proteins produced in Pichia pastoris

The choline-binding domain (ChoBD) of the carboxy-terminal region of the Streptococcus pneumoniae amidase LYTA (C-LYTA) presents a strong affinity for tertiary amines. We report a method for single-step purification of proteins expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris based on the fusion of C-LYTA to the protein of interest. We show that C-LYTA can be efficiently expressed and secreted in this host. Tagged proteins fused to this binding domain can be purified on inexpensive DEAE matrices. It therefore provides a useful system for the purification of recombinant proteins with high specificity suitable for industrial purposes.     

High level expression of human endostatin in Pichia pastoris using a synthetic gene construct

Endostatin, a 20-kDa C-terminal fragment derived from type XVIII collagen, is a potent angiogenesis inhibitor and an antitumor factor. To improve the production of recombinant human endostatin on increasing demand in clinical practice, we constructed an artificial gene encoding its mature peptide sequence in human collagen XVIII. The synthetic gene consisted of 20 codons in preference in methylotropic yeast—Pichia pastoris and was cloned into expression vector pPICZαA; and the recombinant protein was expressed in P. pastoris strain SMD1168 and purified to near homogeneity using heparin affinity chromatography. The amount of expressed recombinant protein in cultural media using described strategy was 80 mg/l in shake flask cultivation and 435 mg/l in high-density bioreactor fermentation. Methylthiazolium assay demonstrated that human endostatin expressed in P. pastoris using artificial synthetic gene of preference in P. pastoris was able to inhibit the acidic fibroblast growth factor-induced proliferation of endothelial cells in vitro.     

Improved secretion of human Fas ligand extracellular domain by N-terminal part truncation in Pichia pastoris and preparation of the N-linked carbohydrate chain trimmed derivative

Human Fas ligand is a medically important transmembrane glycoprotein directing the induction of apoptosis. The influence of N-terminal part (Q103-P138) truncation of human Fas ligand extracellular domain (hFasLECD) on the expression of N-terminal FLAG-(Gly)₅-tagged hFasLECD (NFG5-hFasLECD) with partial N-glycosylation-sites deletion in Pichia pastoris was investigated. The N-terminal part truncation significantly improved the secretion level of both singly (N184Q) and doubly (N184Q, N250Q) N-glycosylation-sites deleted NFG5-hFasLECD. The highly purified N-terminal truncated NFG5-hFasLECD with the double N-glycosylation-sites deletion mutation was obtained using single-step cation-exchange chromatography. The isolation yield was about 24 mg from one liter culture supernatant, which amounted to approximately five times higher than that of the previously reported non-truncated NFG5-hFasLECD with N184Q mutation. The remaining N-linked carbohydrate chain in the purified product was digested with a high-mannose type glycochain specific endoglycosidase, Endo Hf, under non-denatured condition. The N-linked carbohydrate chain trimmed product was purified through Con A-agarose column fractionation and another cation-exchange chromatography from the reaction mixture. The final product showed the molecular weight exact to that of NFG5-hFasLECD-[Δ(103–138), N250Q] mutant with single N-acetylglucosamine residue in MALDI-TOF mass-spectrometric analysis, and existed as a trimer in solution. The N-terminal truncated product either with or without N-linked carbohydrate chain exhibited the specific binding activity toward soluble human Fas receptor extracellular domain—human IgG₁-Fc domain fusion protein, which revealed that the presence of N-linked carbohydrate chain was not essential for the functional activity of hFasLECD. The sample preparation system developed here may be applicable to the structural analysis of hFasLECD.     

Flt3配体胞外域的原核表达纯化及活性鉴定

目的:构建pET32a(+)-hFLext原核表达载体,诱导hFLext蛋白表达、纯化及活性鉴定.方法:以人淋巴细胞cDNA文库为模板,克隆hFlext,构建pET32a(+)-hFLext重组表达载体.转化大肠杆菌BL21,IPTG诱导蛋白表达,镍珠亲合层析纯化蛋白,SDS-PAGE及Western blot鉴定.细胞增殖实验检测其生物学活性.结果:成功克隆获得hFLext,并构建了pET32a(+)-hFLext重组表达载体.在大肠杆菌BL21,经1 mM IPTG 30℃诱导12 h,成功表达Trx-hFLext融合蛋白,主要以包涵体形式存在.经8M尿素变性包涵体蛋白,逐步透析复性,镍珠亲合层析纯化蛋白,SDS-PAGE及Western blot鉴定,成功获得高纯度的Trx-hFLext融合蛋白.细胞增殖实验证实其具有生物学活性,能够有效刺激脐血细胞增殖.结论:成功构建了pET32a(+)-hFLext重组表达载体,表达、纯化了具有生物学活性的Trx-hFLext融合蛋白,为造血干/祖细胞的体外扩增研究奠定了基础.     

Secretory and continuous expression of Aspergillus niger glucose oxidase gene in Pichia pastoris

We proposed a yeast transformant cell incorporating the Aspergillus niger glucose oxidase gene (GOX gene), which is capable of constitutively as well as secretory expression. The GOX gene has been cloned in this study. This conclusion is based on the following: first, the ligated DNA determined by electrophoresis, was a 1489-1882bp fragment, close to the size of glucose oxidase (GOD), which is 1818bp. Secondly, the single open reading frame encoded a protein of 605 amino acids. Thirdly, secreted GOD recombinant proteins in the culture supernatants of the GOX gene transformant migrated as a single band in SDS-PAGE with an apparent molecular mass of between 75,000 and 100,000 Da, which is glycosylated GOD by the Pichia pastoris X-33 host machinery during the secretion process. Finally, the clones were cultured and secreted a protein, which possessed the GOD activity of catalyzing beta-d-glucose oxidation. With regard to the pH characteristics, the activity was more than 80% of the maximum activity in the range between pH 5 and pH 7. As for the temperature characteristics, the activity was not less than 92% of the maximum in the temperature range between 10 and 45 degrees C. The GOX gene transformant was able to maintain the GOD enzyme activity and produce recombinant GOD continuously for at least 2 weeks.     

High-level expression and purification of recombinant human catalase in Pichia pastoris

Catalase is one of the antioxidant enzymes and is involved in many pathophysiologic processes and human diseases. This study focused on high-level expression and purification of recombinant catalase in Pichia pastoris. The cDNA encoding catalase was cloned by RT-PCR from Fetal liver of Homo sapiens. After PCR and construction of expression vector pPIC9K-CAT, human catalase was expressed highly in P. pastoris yeast SMD1168 and secreted into the culture medium. The secreted catalase was purified to a purity of 95% by ammonium sulfate fractionation, anionic exchange-chromatography, and Macro-prep Ceramic Hydroxyapatite with a overall yield of 60%. This study provides a new method for large-scale expression and purification of recombinant protein catalase.     

Improved isolation and purification of functional human Fas receptor extracellular domain using baculovirus-silkworm expression system

To achieve an efficient isolation of human Fas receptor extracellular domain (hFasRECD), a fusion protein of hFasRECD with human IgG1 heavy chain Fc domain containing thrombin cleavage sequence at the junction site was overexpressed using baculovirus-silkworm larvae expression system. The hFasRECD part was separated from the fusion protein by the effective cleavage of the recognition site with bovine thrombin. Protein G column treatment of the reaction mixture and the subsequent cation-exchange chromatography provided purified hFasRECD with a final yield of 13.5mg from 25.0 ml silkworm hemolymph. The functional activity of the product was examined by size-exclusion chromatography analysis. The isolated hFasRECD less strongly interacted with human Fas ligand extracellular domain (hFasLECD) than the Fc domain-bridged counterpart, showing the contribution of antibody-like avidity in the latter case. The purified glycosylated hFasRECD presented several discrete bands in the disulphide-bridge non-reducing SDS-PAGE analysis, and virtually all of the components were considered to participate in the binding to hFasLECD. The attached glycans were susceptible to PNGase F digestion, but mostly resistant to Endo Hf digestion under denaturing conditions. One of the components exhibited a higher susceptibility to PNGase F digestion under non-denaturing conditions.     

High-yield expression and purification of human interferon alpha-1 in Pichia pastoris

For several years, interferon alpha-1, also known as interferon alpha-D, has been studied for treatment of various viral diseases, such as hepatic fibrosis caused by hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus keratitis, and bovine respiratory diseases in calves. Currently, recombinant human interferon alpha-D (rHuIFNalphaD) is expressed intracellularly in Escherichia coli or secreted by Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this report, we describe the process of obtaining a relatively high-yield secretion of biologically active recombinant rHuIFNalphaD using the Pichia pastoris system. The process produced as high as 0.7 mg of purified protein per 20 ml of shake culture of rHuIFNalphaD with better bioactivity than the commercially available rHuIFNalphaD molecule produced in E. coli.     

Design and expression of a synthetic phyC gene encoding the neutral phytase in Pichia pastoris

The 1074-bp phyCs gene (optimized phyC gene) encoding neutral phytase was designed andsynthesized according to the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris codon usage bias without altering theprotein sequence.The expression vector,pP9K-phyCs,was linearized and transformed in P.pastoris.Theyield of total extracellular phytase activity was 17.6 U/ml induced in Buffered Methanol-complex Medium(BMMY) and 18.5 U/ml in Wheat Bran Extract Induction (WBEI) medium at the flask scale,respectively,improving over 90 folds compared with the wild-type isolate.Purified enzyme showed temperature optimumof 70℃ and pH optimum of 7.5.The enzyme activity retained 97% of the relative activity afterincubation at 80℃ for 5 min.Because of the heavy glycosylation the expressed phytase had a molecularsize of approximately 51 kDa.After deglycosylation by endoglycosylase H (EndoH_f),the enzyme had anapparent molecular size of 42 kDa.Its property and thermostability was affected by the glycosylation.     

An extracellular exo-beta-(1,3)-glucanase from Pichia pastoris: purification, characterization, molecular cloning, and functional expression

An extracellular exo-beta-(1,3)-glucanase (designated EXG1) was purified to apparent homogeneity from Pichia pastoris X-33 cultures by ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion-exchange chromatography, and gel filtration. The native enzyme is unglycosylated and monomeric with a molecular mass of approximately 47kDa. At its optimal pH of 6.0, the enzyme shows highest activity among physiological substrates toward laminarin (apparent Km, 3.5 mg/ml; Vmax, 192 micromole glucose produced/min/mg protein) but also hydrolyzes amygdalin and esculin, and the chromogenic substrates p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside and p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside. The P. pastoris EXG1 gene was cloned by a PCR-based strategy using genomic DNA as template. This intronless gene predicts an ORF that encodes a primary translation product of 414 amino acids. We believe that this preproprotein is processed sequentially by signal peptidase and a Kex2-like endoprotease to yield a mature protein of 392 amino acids (45,376 Da; pI, 4.46) that shares 36-64% amino acid identity with other yeast exo-beta-(1,3)-glucanases belonging to Glycoside Hydrolase Family 5. It also possesses the eight invariant residues and signature pattern [LIV]-[LIVMFYWGA](2)-[DNEQG]-[LIVMGST]-X-N-E-[PV]-[RHDNSTLIVFY] shown by all Family 5 members. Overexpression of the cloned EXG1 gene in Pichia cells, followed by Ni-CAM HC resin chromatography, yielded milligram quantities of homogeneous recombinant EXG1 in active form for further characterization studies.     

Rat tumour necrosis factor-alpha: expression in recombinant Pichia pastoris, purification, characterization and development of a novel ELISA.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha is a pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in many aspects of acute phase and immune responses. Species specificity in the biological action and receptor binding of TNF-alpha make it desirable to use homologous reagents in experimental models, both in vivo and in vitro. As the rat is the model of choice in many investigations on fever, trauma and pathology, there is a need for specific rat reagents. In this paper, we describe the production of recombinant rat TNF-alpha in milligram quantities, using a methylotrophic yeast expression system, Pichia pastoris. Recombinant TNF-alpha was produced intracellularly in a soluble form, cells were lysed and the protein purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, Sephadex G75 fractionation and finally, ion-exchange chromatography. The purified recombinant rat TNF-alpha had a molecular mass of 17401.38 +/- 0.38 Da, which is within 1 Da of the value predicted by the sequence data, taking into account N-acetylation of the initial methionine residue and a single disulphide bridge between amino acids 70 and 101. Recombinant rat TNF-alpha was shown to be 20 x fold more biologically active in the WEHI cytotoxicity assay, than the human standard preparation. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against purified recombinant rat TNF-alpha, these reagents were used to develop a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). The ELISA was sensitive to 10 pg.ml- 1 rat TNF-alpha and was specific for TNF-alpha, showing no cross-reactivity with rat IL-1alpha, rat IL-1beta, rat IL-1Ra or rat IL-6. The ELISA was used to measure TNF-alpha in the plasma of rats injected with bacterial endotoxin and in cultures of rat white blood cells. The ELISA was shown to be a robust method suitable for use in assaying samples generated in both in vivo or in vitro experiments.     

Protein expression and purification of human Zbtb7A in Pichia pastoris via gene codon optimization and synthesis

Human Zbtb7A was proved to be an important molecular switch in oncogenesis. However, it is difficult to obtain its protein expression in prokaryotic system, due to high G+C content and rare codons in zbtb7a gene. Therefore, to further research the function and application of this protein, we optimized its coding sequence according to the codon bias of Pichia pastoris, synthesized the sequence with two-step PCR and confirmed the accuracy by DNA sequencing. The assembled fragment was introduced into P. pastoris expression vector pPIC9K and the resultant plasmid pPIC9K-zbtb7a-his(6) was transformed into the P. pastoris strain GS115 by electroporation. The products of the transformants induced by methanol were analyzed by 10% SDS-PAGE and identified by Western Blot assay. The expression conditions of the selected transformant were optimized. Additionally, a two-step purification protocol was applied to purify the recombinant protein. The results showed that the synthetic coding sequence of human Zbtb7A was successfully obtained and inserted into pPIC9K vector. Human Zbtb7A protein was expressed in P. pastoris and identified by western blot. The optimal conditions for its expression in P. pastoris were under a final concentration of 1% methanol and a time-course of 4d. Through the two-step purification, Zbtb7A protein was purified in high purity and its production reached up to as high as 18 mg/L. These results indicated that an effective procedure for expressing and purifying human Zbtb7A in P. pastoris was established.     

Construction of an efficient expression system for Aspergillus isopullulanase in Pichia pastoris,and a simple purification method

Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642 isopullulanase (IPU) was heterologously expressed by Pichia pastoris GS115 under three different signal sequences of Saccharomyces cerevisiae acid phosphatase, S. cerevisiae alpha-factor prepro peptide, and A. niger isopullulanase. One-step purification using lectin Con A affinity chromatography yielded recombinant IPU (IPU-PP) with high purity. IPU-PP had a higher carbohydrate content than native IPU and IPU-AO expressed in A. oryzae M-2-3. IPU-PP hydrolyzed various substrates containing the structure of panose, which indicated a strict subsite recognition of the panose motif.     

Molecular cloning,expression, purification and characterization of truncated forms of human plasminogen in Pichia pastoris expression system

Human plasminogen (HPG), which contains a catalytic domain together with five kringle domains, can be readily purified from blood plasma by chromatography on lysine-agarose. However, its truncated derivatives are needed for various important therapeutic applications. The proteolytic digestion of plasminogen in vitro yields several low molecular weight variants viz. the kringle-less catalytic domain, known as micro-plasminogen (microPG), or miniplasminogen (miniPG), which consists of microPG with an intact kringle-5 domain. However, this method is extremely cumbersome due to a requirement of stringent control on the limited proteolysis process, which often leads to very poor recoveries of the desired product/s, apart from the potentially serious safety-regulatory issues associated with blood-derived therapeutic products. Here, we describe the high-level secretory expression of these important plasminogen derivatives employing Pichia pastoris as the expression host with an engineered alpha-mating factor signal sequence. The purified proteins were found to be functionally comparable with human blood plasminogen-derived ‘native’ forms in terms of their N-terminal amino acid sequences and molecular mass, as well as functional properties. This study paves the way for the facile large-scale production of recombinant human plasminogen derivatives required for thrombolytic and other life-saver therapies.     

High-level expression, purification, and characterization of porcine somatotropin in Pichia pastoris

Porcine somatotropin (pST) significantly improves the growth rate, carcass composition, and growth efficiency of pigs while reducing feed consumption and fat deposition. Pichia pastoris was used as a host to efficiently express the pST gene in this study. Up to 90% of the recombinant protein was secreted into the culture medium, yielding about 900 mg/L rpST in shake-flask cultures. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analyses showed that rpST migrated as a single band with a molecular weight of approximately 25 kDa, and had the same immunoreactivity as native pST. The culture supernatant of our rpST expression strain, X-33/pPICZalphaA-pST/9, was purified to greater than 95% homogeneity with 71.4% recovery using ammonium sulfate precipitation, Sephadex G-25 Fine desalting, and Q Sepharose High Performance Ion Exchange chromatography. MALDI-TOF-MS demonstrated a molecular mass of 21,771Da for rpST, close to its predicted size. Isoelectric focusing electrophoresis results from three batches of purified rpST consistently showed a pI value between 4.55 and 5.2. Purified rpST was able to promote Nb2 cell proliferation and reduce feed intake of crossbred gilts, a type of pig breed, with no decrease in body weight gain when administered by injection. These results indicate that the P. pastoris expression system will be useful for production of bioactive rpST at commercially relevant levels.     

毕赤酵母X-33OCH1基因敲除菌株的构建及其表达低糖基化蛋白GM-CSF

【目的】酵母表达外源糖蛋白时会对蛋白进行过度N-糖基化修饰,产生高甘露糖型糖链,影响蛋白的活性,其中α-1,6-甘露糖转移酶(och1p)在这一过程中起着关键作用。通过敲除毕赤酵母X-33的α-1,6甘露糖转移酶(och1p)基因,获得一个对糖蛋白进行低糖基化修饰的毕赤酵母表达系统。【方法】采用双交换同源重组敲除目的基因的方法,首先敲除毕赤酵母X-33的URA3基因,获得一个尿嘧啶营养缺陷型的X-33(ura3-)菌株;然后用URA3基因作为选择标记,敲除X-33(ura3-)的α-1,6甘露糖转移酶(och1p)基因,获得OCH1基因敲除的X-33(och1-)菌株。用X-33(och1-)菌表达糖蛋白GM-CSF,分析GM-CSF蛋白糖链的变化。【结果】首次成功敲除了X-33的URA3和OCH1基因,与野生型相比,X-33(och1-)菌表达的GM-CSF蛋白过度糖基化修饰程度明显降低。【结论】X-33(och1-)菌株的构建提供了一个对蛋白低N-糖基化修饰的毕赤酵母表达系统,也为进一步的糖基化改造提供了良好的基础。     

毕赤酵母X-33OCH1基因敲除菌株的构建及其表达低糖基化蛋白GM-CSF

摘要: 【目的】酵母表达外源糖蛋白时会对蛋白进行过度N-糖基化修饰,产生高甘露糖型糖链,影响蛋白的活性,其中α-1,6-甘露糖转移酶(och1p)在这一过程中起着关键作用。通过敲除毕赤酵母X-33的α-1,6甘露糖转移酶(och1p)基因,获得一个对糖蛋白进行低糖基化修饰的毕赤酵母表达系统。【方法】采用双交换同源重组敲除目的基因的方法,首先敲除赤酵母X-33的URA3基因,获得一个尿嘧啶营养缺陷型的X-33(ura3-)菌株;然后用URA3基因作为选择标记,敲除X-33(ura3-)的α-1,6甘露糖转移酶(och1p)基因,获得OCH1基因敲除的X-33(och1-)菌株。用X-33 (och1-)菌表达糖蛋白GM-CSF,分析GM-CSF蛋白糖链的变化。【结果】首次成功敲除了X-33的URA3和OCH1基因,与野生型相比,X-33(och1-)菌表达的GM-CSF蛋白过度糖基化修饰程度明显降低。【结论】X-33(och1-)菌株的构建提供了一个对蛋白低N-糖基化修饰的毕赤酵母表达系统,也为进一步的糖基化改造提供了良好的基础。