Controlled intracellular processing of fusion proteins by TEV protease

Here we describe a method for controlled intracellular processing (CIP) of fusion proteins by tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease. A fusion protein containing a TEV protease recognition site is expressed in Escherichia coli cells that also contain a TEV protease expression vector. The fusion protein vector is an IPTG-inducible ColE1-type plasmid, such as a T7 or tac promoter vector. In contrast, the TEV protease is produced by a compatible p15A-type vector that is induced by tetracyclines. Not only is the TEV protease regulated independently of the fusion protein, but its expression is highly repressed in the absence of inducer. Certain fusion partners have been shown to enhance the yield and solubility of their passenger proteins. When CIP is used as a purification step, it is possible to take advantage of these characteristics while both eliminating the need for large amounts of pure protease at a later stage and possibly simplifying the purification process. Additionally, we have observed that in some cases the timing of intracellular proteolysis can affect the solubility of the cleaved passenger protein, allowing it to be directed to either the soluble or the insoluble fraction of the crude cell lysate. This method also makes it possible to quickly gauge the efficiency of proteolysis in vivo, before protein purification has begun and in vitro processing is attempted.     

Linkers for improved cleavage of fusion proteins with an engineered alpha-lytic protease.

Addition of an N-terminal fusion partner can greatly aid the expression and purification of a recombinant protein in Escherichia coli. We investigated two genetically engineered proteases designed to remove the fusion partner after the protein of interest has been expressed. Recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-II (hIGF-II) has been produced from E. coli-derived fusion proteins using a novel enzymatic cleavage system that uses a mutant of alpha-lytic protease. Initially, two potential fusion protein linkers were designed, Pro-Ala-Pro-His (PAPH) and Pro-Ala-Pro-Met (PAPM), and were tested as substrates in the form of synthetic dodecapeptides. Using mass spectrometry and reverse-phase HPLC, the position of cleavage was confirmed and the kinetics of synthetic peptide cleavage were examined. Use of the linkers in hIGF-II fusion proteins produced in E. coli was then evaluated. The fusion proteins constructed consist of the first 11 amino acids of porcine growth hormone linked N-terminally to hIGF-II by six amino acids that include the dipeptide Val-Asn followed by a variable tetrapeptide protease cleavage motif. Mass spectrometry and N-terminal sequencing confirmed that proteolytic cleavage of the fusion proteins had occurred at the predicted sites. Using the fusion proteins as substrates, the cleavage of the rationally designed motifs by the alpha-lytic protease mutant was compared. The fusion protein containing the motif PAPM had a k(cat)/K(M) ratio indicating a 1.6-fold preference over the PAPH fusion protein for cleavage by this enzyme. Furthermore, when hIGF-II fusion proteins containing the designed cleavable linkers were processed with the engineered alpha-lytic protease, they gave greatly improved yields of native hIGF-II compared to an analogous fusion protein cleaved by H64A subtilisin. Comparison of the peptide and protein cleavage studies shows that the efficient proteolysis of the cleavage motifs is an inherent property of the designed sequences and is not determined by secondary or tertiary structure in the fusion proteins.     

Autoprocessing of the HIV-1 protease using purified wild-type and mutated fusion proteins expressed at high levels in Escherichia coli

Various constructs of the human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) protease containing flanking Pol region sequences were expressed as fusion proteins with the maltose-binding protein of the malE gene of Escherichia coli. The full-length fusion proteins did not exhibit self-processing in E. coli, thereby allowing rapid purification by affinity chromatography on cross-linked amylose columns. Denaturation of the fusion protein in 5 M urea, followed by renaturation, resulted in efficient site-specific autoprocessing to release the 11-kDa protease. Rapid purification involving two column steps gave an HIV-1 protease preparations of greater than 95% purity (specific activity approximately 8500 pmol.min-1.micrograms protease-1) with an overall yield of about 1 mg/l culture. Incubation of an inactive mutant protease fusion protein with the purified wild-type protease resulted in specific trans cleavage and release of the mutant protease. Analysis of products of the HIV-1 fusion proteins containing mutations at either the N- or the C-terminal protease cleavage sites indicated that blocking one of the cleavage sites influences the cleavage at the non-mutated site. Such mutated full-length and truncated protease fusion proteins possess very low levels of proteolytic activity (approximately 5 pmol.min-1.micrograms protein-1).     

Molecular design, expression, and affinity immobilization of a trypsin-streptavidin fusion protein*(1)

A trypsin-streptavidin (TRYPSA) fusion protein was designed and its expression in Escherichia coli was evaluated. The streptavidin gene was PCR modified and cloned into the pET expression vector. The trypsin gene was subsequently inserted into this plasmid, thus generating a colinear fusion of trypsin and streptavidin genes (pTRYPSA). This engineering strategy was verified, and TRYPSA was expressed after IPTG induction using the E. coli strains, BL21(DE3) and BL21(DE3)pLysS. Standard protein fractions of the cell lysate were prepared and trypsin activity was primarily detected in the periplasmic and inclusion body fractions. Immunoblotting showed a single Western-positive band exhibiting a molecular weight of 39,000 Da. A biotinylated porous glass affinity matrix was prepared and selective adsorption resulted in a one-step purification and immobilization of TRYPSA from crude cell lysate. Trypsin activity was verified using a synthetic substrate. This enzyme bioreactor should serve as an excellent prototype for future studies that will examine the effect of limited proteolysis on functional characteristics of milk proteins, including gelling, emulsifying and foaming properties.     

A bacterially produced virus enhancing factor from an entomopoxvirus enhances nucleopolyhedrovirus infection in armyworm larvae

Using an Escherichia coli expression system, pGEX-2T, that expresses foreign sequences as fusion proteins with a glutathione S-transferase (GST) carrier, we have expressed a virus enhancing factor (EF) from Pseudaletia separata entomopoxvirus, which enhances P. unipuncta multi nucleopolyhedrovirus (PsunMNPV) infection in larvae of the armyworm, P. separata. The lysates of transformed E. coli cells, which were not active in enhancing PsunMNPV infection, became active when treated with either trypsin or thrombin. The GST-EF fusion protein in a lysate was purified with a bulk GST purification module and cleaved into the EF and GST moieties with thrombin. Removal of the GST moiety with glutathione-Sepharose 4B resulted in a highly purified EF preparation, which enhanced PsunMNPV infection in armyworm larvae and PsunMNPV fusion with an armyworm cell line, SIE-MSH-805-F.     

Overexpression and purification of recombinant membrane PsbH protein in Escherichia coli

In this work, we featured an expression system that enables the production of sufficient quantities ( approximately mg) of low molecular weight membrane protein of photosystem II, PsbH protein, for solid-state NMR as well as other biophysical studies. PsbH gene from cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was cloned into a plasmid expression vector, which allowed expression of the PsbH protein as a glutathione-S transferase (GST) fusion protein in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) cells. A relatively large GST anchor overcomes foreseeable problems with the low solubility of membrane proteins and the toxicity caused by protein incorporation into the membrane of the host organism. As a result, the majority of fusion protein was obtained in a soluble state and could be purified from crude bacterial lysate by affinity chromatography on immobilized glutathione under non-denaturing conditions. The PsbH protein was cleaved from the carrier protein with Factor Xa protease and purified on DEAE-cellulose column with yields of up to 2.1 microg protein/ml of bacterial culture. The procedure as we optimized is applicable for isolation of small membrane proteins for structural studies.     

肿瘤MUC1/Y的克隆及其胞外段在大肠杆菌中的可溶性表达、纯化和鉴定

为获得MUC1 Y全长cDNA及其胞外段蛋白 ,以用于进一步的生物学功能及肿瘤生物学治疗的研究 .利用RT PCR从HeLa细胞中扩增MUC1 Y全长cDNA ;PCR扩增其胞外段 ,克隆到原核表达载体pGEX 2T ,转化DH5a菌 ,诱导表达 ;亲和层析纯化 ;凝血酶酶切、GST活性及N端蛋白测序鉴定 ;免疫家兔制备多克隆抗体 .所得MUC1 YcDNA的开放读框为 759bp ,登录于GenBank(AF12 552 5) .其信号肽编码序列缺失 9bp ,第 3 3 1位发生G A转换 ,造成缬氨酸突变为蛋氨酸 .表达获得约 4 0kD融合蛋白GST Yex ,占菌体总蛋白 2 5%～ 3 0 % ,其中 70 %～ 80 %为可溶性 ,经亲和层析一步纯化 ,纯度 >90 % ,GST比活性为 0 2 1U μg .凝血酶酶切后的N端蛋白序列测定表明与已知序列完全一致 ,抗血清ELISA效价为 1∶2 50 0 0 0 .结果表明 ,克隆到发生碱基缺失和突变的MUC1 Y全长cDNA ,获得MUC1 Y胞外段蛋白及其多抗 ,可进一步用于相关研究 .     

An expression vector tailored for large-scale, high-throughput purification of recombinant proteins

Production of milligram quantities of numerous proteins for structural and functional studies requires an efficient purification pipeline. We found that the dual tag, his(6)-tag-maltose-binding protein (MBP), intended to facilitate purification and enhance proteins' solubility, disrupted such a pipeline, requiring additional screening and purification steps. Not all proteins rendered soluble by fusion to MBP remained soluble after its proteolytic removal, and in those cases where the protein remained soluble, standard purification protocols failed to remove completely the stoichiometric amount of his(6)-tagged MBP generated by proteolysis. Both liabilities were alleviated by construction of a vector that produces fusion proteins in which MBP, the his(6)-tag and the target protein are separated by highly specific protease cleavage sites in the configuration MBP-site-his(6)-site-protein. In vivo cleavage at the first site by co-expressed protease generated untagged MBP and his(6)-tagged target protein. Proteins not truly rendered soluble by transient association with MBP precipitated, and untagged MBP was easily separated from the his-tagged target protein by conventional protocols. The second protease cleavage site allowed removal of the his(6)-tag.     

高活性重组hG-CSF的制备

我们构建了新的硫氧还蛋白（Ｔｈｉｏｒｅｄｏｘｉｎ）融合表达载体ｐＥＴＴｒｘＬ和ｐＥＴＴｒｘ－ＨｉｓＬ,它们可使功能蛋白在大肠杆菌胞质中以可溶性形式高效表达。利用此表达系统成功地获得的ｈＧ－ＣＳＦ－硫氧还蛋白融合蛋白的高效可溶性表达,表达水平达总细胞可溶蛋白的４１％以上。所表达的ｈＧ－ＣＳＦ－硫氧还蛋白融合蛋白可通过Ｃｕ２＋－ＩＤＡＳｅｐｈａｒｏｓｅＦＦ固相金属螯合层析柱,方便地从细胞破碎可溶上清中直接纯化。所获得的融合蛋白具有ｈＧ－ＣＳＦ特异的生物活性,其比活性达到０．５－１．３３×１０７ｕ／ｍｇ融合蛋白。这样表达的ｈＧ－ＣＳＦ融合蛋白能被ＩｇＡ蛋白酶特异地切割,将ｈＧ－ＣＳＦ从融合蛋白上切下获得与天然蛋白一级结构完全一致的重组ｈＧ－ＣＳＦ 。     

人乳头瘤病毒18型L1蛋白的包涵体和可溶性表达及纯化

目的:原核表达系统表达人乳头瘤病毒18型(HPV18)L1蛋白,建立包涵体和可溶性表达的L1蛋白的纯化方法。方法:构建重组表达质粒p GEX-4T-1-HPV18 L1,在大肠杆菌BL21中以包涵体和可溶性方式表达HPV18 L1蛋白。通过超声波破碎菌体、洗涤包涵体、碱变性、透析复性和谷胱甘肽(GST)琼脂糖凝胶4B亲和层析纯化包涵体蛋白;在菌体中加入三磷酸腺苷(ATP)和3.5 mol/L尿素孵育后,GST 4B亲和层析纯化可溶性蛋白,凝血酶酶切。SDS-PAGE和Western印迹鉴定表达和纯化产物。结果:SDS-PAGE结果表明,HPV18 L1蛋白以包涵体和可溶性方式在大肠杆菌BL21内高效表达,均产生相对分子质量约为86 000的HPV18 L1-GST融合蛋白。Western印迹结果显示,包涵体纯化后获得的融合蛋白降解条带较多;而可溶性蛋白纯化后获得的融合蛋白未降解,凝血酶酶切后得到HPV18 L1蛋白,可与HPV18 L1蛋白单克隆抗体结合。结论:采用原核系统表达了HPV18 L1-GST融合蛋白,分别建立了包涵体和可溶性蛋白的纯化方法,获得HPV18 L1蛋白,为其进一步应用奠定了基础。     

Development of the Fc-III Tagged Protein Expression System for Protein Purification and Detection

In the present work, we developed the Fc-III tagged protein expression system for protein purification and detection. The Fc-III sequence encodes for a 13 residue peptide and this peptide is cyclized by disulfide bond formation when the fusion protein is expressed. The Fc-III-fusion proteins selectively bind to immunoglobulin Fc domains (IgG-Fc) expressed from E. coli. We showed the efficient purification of Fc-III tagged proteins by immobilized non-native IgG-Fc and the detection of the cellular locations of fusion proteins by fluorescent-conjugated IgG-Fc. Our results prove that Fc-III tagged protein expression system is a simple and efficient tool for protein purification and detection and is a useful addition to the biochemistry and proteomics toolbox.     

Degradation of oxidatively denatured proteins in Escherichia coli

When exposed to oxidative stress, by oxygen radicals or H2O2, E. coli exhibited decreased growth, decreased protein synthesis, and dose-dependent increases in protein degradation. The quinone menadione induced proteolysis when cells were incubated in air, but was not effective when cells were incubated without oxygen. Anaerobically grown cells also exhibited significantly lower proteolytic capacity than did cells that were grown aerobically. Xanthine plus xanthine oxidase (which generate O2- and H2O2) caused a stimulation of proteolysis which was inhibitable by catalase, but not by superoxide dismutase: Indicating that H2O2 was responsible for the increased protein degradation. Indeed, H2O2 alone was effective in inducing increased intracellular proteolysis. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of [3H]leucine labeled E. coli revealed greater than 50% decreases in the concentrations of 10-15 cell proteins following H2O2 or menadione exposure, while several other proteins were less severely affected. To test for the presence of soluble proteases, we prepared cell-free extracts of E. coli and incubated them with radio-labeled protein substrates. E. coli extracts degraded casein and globin polypeptides at rapid rates but showed little activity with native proteins such as superoxide dismutase, hemoglobin, bovine serum albumin, or catalase. When these same proteins were denatured by exposure to oxygen radicals or H2O2, however, they became excellent substrates for degradation in E. coli extracts. Studies with albumin revealed correlations greater than 0.95 between the degree of oxidative denaturation and proteolytic susceptibility. Pretreatment of E. coli with menadione or H2O2 did not increase the proteolytic capacity of cell extracts; indicating that neither protease activation, nor protease induction were required.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Preliminary study on the cleavage of fusion protein GST-CMIV with palladium(II) complex

A novel method for post-treatment of gene-engineered proteins is reported. A coden of Cys-His unit is introduced into the N-terminal of cecropin CMIV by using PCR. The gene is expressed in E. coli fused with GST. After purification, the fusion protein is cleaved by [Pd(en)(H2O)2]2+ at the His-Arg bond and the cecropin CMIV with antibacterial activity is obtained. The preliminary results held some promise of success for application of the palladium(II) complex as cleavage agent for the production of peptide drugs from gene-engineering fusion proteins.     

pAM401-based shuttle vectors that enable overexpression of promoterless genes and one-step purification of tag fusion proteins directly from Enterococcus faecalis

Two novel Enterococcus faecalis-Escherichia coli shuttle vectors that utilize the promoter and ribosome binding site of bacA on the E. faecalis plasmid pPD1 were constructed. The vectors were named pMGS100 and pMGS101. pMGS100 was designed to overexpress cloned genes in E. coli and E. faecalis and encodes the bacA promoter followed by a cloning site and stop codon. pMGS101 was designed for the overexpression and purification of a cloned protein fused to a Strep-tag consisting of 9 amino acids at the carboxyl terminus. The Strep-tag provides the cloned protein with an affinity to immobilized streptavidin that facilitates protein purification. We cloned a promoterless beta-galactosidase gene from E. coli and cloned the traA gene of the E. faecalis plasmid pAD1 into the vectors to test gene expression and protein purification, respectively. beta-Galactosidase was expressed in E. coli and E. faecalis at levels of 10(3) and 10 Miller units, respectively. By cloning the pAD1 traA into pMGS101, the protein could be purified directly from a crude lysate of E. faecalis or E. coli with an immobilized streptavidin matrix by one-step affinity chromatography. The ability of TraA to bind DNA was demonstrated by the DNA-associated protein tag affinity chromatography method using lysates prepared from both E. coli and E. faecalis that overexpress TraA. The results demonstrated the usefulness of the vectors for the overexpression and cis/trans analysis of regulatory genes, purification and copurification of proteins from E. faecalis, DNA binding analysis, determination of translation initiation site, and other applications that require proteins purified from E. faecalis.     

Affinity purification of insoluble recombinant fusion proteins containing glutathione-S-transferase

Prokaryotic expression of polypeptides as fusion proteins with glutathione-S-transferase has recently been reported as a one-step means of purifying recombinant protein. The usefulness of the glutathione-S-transferase/glutathioneagarose system, however, is significantly limited by the frequent synthesis of recombinant proteins in insuluble form by Escherichia coli. We have found that for 5 separate fusion proteins containing glutathione-S-transferase and different domains of the large cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, all were packaged in insoluble form by E. coli. Insolubility of these products made them inaccessible to one-step purification utilizing this scheme requires proper folding of recombinant glutathione-S-transferase to allow recognition on glutathione affinity agarose, we investigated the suitability of several alternative approaches for converting insoluble recombinant fusion proteins to a soluble form amenable to glutathione-agarose affinity purification. Low-temperature induction of fusion protein synthesis, but not incubation with anion-exchange resins, led to improved one-step purification of glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins from E. coli cell lysate using mild, nondenaturing conditions. Solubilization in 8 mol/L urea, but not with other chaotropic agents or detergents, also allowed preparative yields of affinity-purified fusion protein. These techniques increase the usefulness of this recombinant protein purification scheme, and should be broadly applicable to diverse polypeptides synthesized as fusions with glutathione-S-transferase.     

GST/ AEP 融合蛋白原核表达载体的构建、表达及鉴定

目的：为进一步研究抗癫痫肽（And—epilepsy peptide,AEP）的抗痫机制及筛选其相关作用蛋白,进行GST／AEP融合蛋白原核表达载体的构建及融合蛋白的表达。方法：通过PCR基因扩增对AEP基因进行扩增,并将其克隆于谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶（GST）融合蛋白表达质粒pGEX-4T-1中,经酶切、序列鉴定分析后,用该重组质粒转化大肠杆菌B121（DE3）,经IPTG诱导获得表达,并采用Western Blot进行检测。结果：成功构建了AEP原核表达载体,并在大肠杆菌B121中获得表达。结论：成功构建了GST／AEP原核表达载体,并表达了GST／AEP融合蛋白。     

p16抑癌基因定点突变及其在大肠杆菌中的表达与纯化

为了研究错义突变对ｐ１６功能的影响,应用ＰＣＲ体外定点突变方法对ｐ１６ｃＤＮＡ进行体外定点突变,并将野生型和突变型ｐ１６ｃＤＮＡ克隆于ｐＧＥＸ－５Ｔ载体,在大肠杆菌中经ＩＰＴＧ诱导表达,Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ印迹鉴定确证表达．而后用谷胱甘肽－Ｓｅｐｈａｒｏｓｅ４Ｂ亲和层析纯化野生型和突变型ｐ１６融合蛋白．得到了第４８位密码子ＣＣＧ（Ｐｒｏ）→ＣＴＧ（Ｌｅｕ）突变的ｐ１６－Ｐ４８突变体,并在大肠杆菌中表达了４２ｋＤ的ＧＳＴ－ｐ１６和ＧＳＴ－ｐ１６Ｐ４８Ｌ融合蛋白．最后经纯化得到了野生和Ｐ４８Ｌ突变的ｐ１６融合蛋白     

Purification of dual-tagged intact recombinant proteins

Large-scale purification of recombinant proteins has been used extensively to assist numerous protein studies, including investigation of function, substrate identification and protein-protein interaction of low abundance proteins. Genetic fusion of affinity tags to these proteins has also been widely used for ease of purification by affinity chromatography. However, this technique sometimes yields unstable and degraded protein products limiting its application. In this study, we show a facile and straightforward method of dual-tagged recombinant protein purification that eliminates contamination by degraded protein products. A 6His-containing BamHI-HindIII fragment from pQE12 was ligated into the pGEX-KG BamHI-HindIII fragment and the protein of interest (p25(nck5a), which is highly susceptible to proteolytic degradation when expressed and purified from bacteria) was cloned into the BamHI site without a termination codon. The resulting plasmid construct, designated as pGST-p25(nck5a)-6His, with GST at the N-terminal and 6His at the C-terminal was expressed in Escherichia coli DH5alpha and purified using a two-step procedure. We show that using Ni(2+)-NTA chromatography as a first purification step and GSH-agarose chromatography as a second step, rather than vice-versa, yields a highly purified intact protein that is free of any contaminating degraded protein product. The purified fusion protein is soluble and fully active.     

pC6-2/caspase-6 system to purify glutathione-S-transferase-free recombinant fusion proteins expressed in Escherichia coli

Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion protein expression vectors are often employed for the expression and purification of proteins in Escherichia coli. GST is then removed by site-specific proteolysis using thrombin. However, the presence of internal thrombin cleavage sites in expressed proteins can severely affect the purification of intact proteins. Cysteine-dependent aspartate-specific proteases (caspases) are efficient enzymes with defined substrate specificity. Unlike most of the proteases used for the removal of affinity tags, caspases do not leave any amino acids at the amino-terminus of cleaved proteins. We have engineered the caspase-6 site VEMD in a pGEX vector to give the pC6-2 vector. The caspase-6 can be easily removed after cleavage. Here, we describe the detailed protocol for purifying proteins using our pC6-2/caspase-6 expression and purification system. The cleavage by caspase-6 occurs in <30 min and the entire procedure can be completed in 2 d.     

pCold-GST vector: a novel cold-shock vector containing GST tag for soluble protein production

The production of recombinant protein in Escherichia coli is often hampered by low expression levels and low solubility. A variety of methodologies have been developed including protein production at low temperature, and fusion protein expression using soluble protein tags. Here, we present the novel cold-shock vector pCold-GST for high-level expression of soluble proteins in E. coli. This vector is a modified pCold I cold-shock vector that includes the glutathione S-transferase (GST) tag. The pCold-GST expression system developed was applied to 10 proteins that could not be expressed using conventional E. coli expression methodologies, and nine of these proteins were successfully obtained in the soluble fraction. The expression and purification of two unstable protein fragments were also demonstrated by employing a C-terminal hexa-histidine tag for purification purposes. The purified proteins were amenable to NMR analyses. These data suggest that the pCold-GST expression system can be utilized to improve the expression and purification of various proteins.