一种改良的对虾白斑综合征病毒的提纯技术

The envelope proteins of White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) are very fragile and easy to be destroyed during purification. It was difficult to obtain a large quantity of intact virions by routine sucrose gradient centrifugation. After modifying the sucrose gradient by adding citrate sodium, we can obtain a large quantity of intact virions and nucleocapsids. This purified virions and nucleocapsids were subsequently used for analyzing viral structural proteins and DNA extraction. The result showed that this modified techniaue is very efficient for virus purification.     

Production of a recombinant antibody fragment in whole insect larvae

Infection of insect cells with baculovirus expression constructs is commonly used to produce recombinant proteins that require post-translational modifications for their activity, such as mammalian proteins. However, technical restraints limit the capacity of insect cell-based culture systems to be scaled up to produce the large amounts of recombinant protein required for human pharmaceuticals. In this study, we designed an automated insect rearing system and whole insect baculovirus expression system (PERLXpress™) for the expression and purification of recombinant proteins on a large scale. As a test model, we produced a recombinant mouse anti-botulinum antibody fragment (Fab) in Trichoplusia ni larvae. A recombinant baculovirus co-expressing the Fab heavy and light chains together with N-terminal sequences from the silkworm hormone bombyxin, to direct proteins into the secretory pathway, was constructed. Fifth instar larvae were reared and infected orally with recombinant (pre- occluded) baculovirus using the automated system and harvested approximately after 4 days. The total yield of recombinant Fab was 1.1 g/kg of larvae, resulting in 127 mg of pure Fab in one production run. The Fab was purified to homogeneity using immobilized metal affinity chromatography, gel filtration, and anion exchange chromatography. The identity of the purified protein was verified by Western blots and size-exclusion chromatography. Purified recombinant Fab was used to detect botulinum toxin in ELISA experiments, demonstrating that the heavy and light chains were properly assembled and folded into functional heterodimers. We believe that this is the first demonstration of the expression of a recombinant antibody in whole insect larvae. Our results demonstrate that a baculovirus-whole larvae expression system can be used to express functionally active recombinant Fab fragments. As the PERLXpress™ system is an automated and linearly scalable technology, it represents an attractive alternative to insect cell culture for the production of large amounts of human pharmaceuticals.     

A method for large scale purification of turnip peroxidase and its characterization

Purification of peroxidase has been carried out since 1960 from different sources and with different methods. Ion exchange, affinity, hydrophobic, and metal affinity chromatography are known, to our knowledge. The present method, developed in this study, is three-phase partitioning, a novel technique to separate protein directly from a large volume of crude suspension. It has been observed that interfacing phase with a metal makes this technique highly selective. Turnip peroxidase purified with this method has 512 units/mg with 20.3% recovery. The natural proteins containing histidine or cystine are often purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography. The purification of turnip peroxidase with the three-phase partitioning technique is based on immobilized metal affinity chromatography and is used for large-scale purification. The present method, described here, would prove its value in purifying an industrially important enzyme on a large scale from a crude suspension. The enzyme purified with this technique showed two bands on SDS- PAGE, which showed a molecular weight of approx. 39KD. Enzyme showed maximum purification with Cu++ metal and had a maximum activity at pH 6.0. The enzyme has an affinity towards hydrogen peroxide as its substrate in the presence of orthodianisidine as a chromogenic substrate. Enzyme activity was enhanced with calcium and magnesium, whereas sodium, potassium, and manganese inhibit the enzyme activity.     

Renaturation, purification and characterization of streptokinase expressed as inclusion body in recombinant E. coli

Recombinant protein purification is facilitated using high expression systems which produce larger quantities of streptokinase protein as inclusion bodies. As the accumulation of active streptokinase is toxic to the host cells, we have optimized the conditions to achieve large amounts of streptokinase in the form of inclusion bodies. The solubility and yield of pure protein are highly dependent on various combinations of chemical additives, ionic and non-ionic detergents and salts, with solubilizing agents followed by refolding of denatured protein into active form. As the extraction of the purified streptokinase from inclusion bodies requires denaturation and a subsequent refolding step, careful balancing steps were needed to develop under different controlled conditions. Here the purified fragments of refolded proteins were screened to select the conditions that yield the active streptokinase having native conformation. The maximum specific activity of the purified streptokinase was achieved by these methods. The refolded recombinant streptokinase was analyzed by RP-HPLC showing a purity of 99%. Size exclusion chromatography profile shows that there are minimal aggregates in the active streptokinase protein and the percentage of renaturation is around 99%.     

Membrane-reconstituted, purified H-2Kb specifically inhibits T-cell-target cell conjugate formation

We report the use of a sensitive microassay to detect purified H-2Kb antigens which have been functionally reconstituted into membrane vesicles of defined composition. The histocompatibility antigens have been purified by monoclonal antibody affinity chromatography. The assay utilizes inhibition of specific conjugate formation between allogeneically primed (H-2d anti- H-2b) cytotoxic T cells and H-2b target cells by the membrane-reconstituted H-2Kb antigens. Cytoskeletal proteins were added to the H-2Kb (and control H-2k) antigens. Sucrose density fractionation of reconstituted vesicles and Pronase E cleavage studies suggested that the cytoskeletal proteins aided in the incorporation and vectorial orientation of the antigens into large, cholesterol-containing membrane vesicles. As little as 6 ng purified H-2Kb plus 28 ng cytoskeletal proteins in vesicles of defined lipid composition (0.28, 0.25, 0.47 mol fraction cholesterol, dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine, and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, respectively) inhibited specific conjugate formation to 50% of the maximum inhibition observed. This inhibition was shown to be specific in two ways: (i) the same H-2Kb-containing vesicles did not inhibit nonspecific conjugate formation, and (ii) control vesicles containing the same amounts of lipid, cytoskeletal proteins, and purified H-2k proteins inhibited conjugate formation but only at significantly higher H-2k concentrations, indicating the specificity of the response with the vesicles containing H-2Kb.     

旋毛虫基因重组抗原的纯化

根据旋毛虫基因重组抗原蛋白的特点,筛选出裂解处理工程菌菌体的方法,并探索了用ＳｅｐｈａｃｒｙｌＳ－３００（ＨＲ）柱层析纯化重组蛋白的程序。用本法处理和纯化后,重组蛋白的纯度可达９０％以上。所纯化的三种重组抗原蛋白均能与猪旋毛虫病血清发生特异性反应而不与正常猪血清和猪囊虫病血清反应,其中以重组蛋白ＲＰ３４的特异性最强,ＲＰ３７较弱,ＲＰ４６介于两者之间。研究结果表明,本纯化方法易于操作、设备简单和特异性蛋白回收率高,是处理和纯化旋毛虫基因重组抗原的最佳程序。     

Organization of proteins in mammalian mitochondrial ribosomes. Accessibility to lactoperoxidase-catalyzed radioiodination

To assess the relative exposure of individual ribosomal proteins (r-proteins) in the large and small subunits of the bovine mitochondrial ribosome, we used a double label iodination technique. Regions of r-proteins exposed in purified ribosomal subunits were labeled with 131I using the lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination system, and additional reactive groups available upon denaturing the r-proteins in urea were labeled with 125I using the chloramine-T mediated reaction. The ratio of 131I to 125I incorporated into individual proteins under these conditions is representative of the degree of exposure for each of the proteins in the subunits. In this manner, the r-proteins have been grouped into 3 classes depending on their degree of exposure: high exposure, intermediate exposure, and essentially buried. While both subunits have a few proteins in the "highly exposed" group, and a large number of proteins in the "intermediate exposure" group, only the large ribosomal subunit has an appreciable number of proteins which appear essentially buried. The more buried proteins may serve mainly structural roles, perhaps acting as "assembly proteins," since many from this group bind to ribosomal RNA. The more superficially disposed proteins may comprise binding sites for macromolecules that interact with ribosomes during protein synthesis, as well as stabilizing the association of the large and small subribosomal particles.     

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.     

Exo- and endo-glucanolytic activity of cellulases purified from Trichoderma reesei

Four cellulases, produced by Trichoderma reesei, have been purified by preparative isoelectric focusing (Rotofor), size exclusion (Sephacryl 100 HR), anionic (Mono Q) and cationic (Mono S) chromatography and chromatofocusing (Mono P). Enzymatic activity with a large number of substrates allowed the proteins to be classified as: cellobiohydrolase I, cellobiohydrolase II, endoglucanase I and endoglucanase II. The exo- or endo-glucanase character of these enzymes was analysed by using a technique based on the measurement of the Avicel insoluble fibres reducing power. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998     

Proteomic analysis of high-density lipoprotein

Plasma lipoproteins, such as high-density lipoprotein (HDL), can serve as carriers for a wide range of proteins that are involved in processes such as lipid metabolism, thrombosis, inflammation and atherosclerosis. The identification of HDL-associated proteins is essential with regards to understanding these processes at the molecular level. In this study, a combination of proteomic approaches including 1-DE and 2-DE MALDI-TOF, isotope-coded affinity tag and Western blot analysis were employed to identify proteins associated with human HDL. To minimize potential losses of HDL-associated proteins during isolation, a one-step ultracentrifugation technique was applied and the quality of purified HDL was confirmed by nephelometry, high-performance gel chromatography, and Western blot analysis. MS analysis revealed the presence of 56 HDL-associated proteins including all known apolipoproteins and lipid transport proteins. Furthermore, proteins involved in hemostasis and thrombosis, the immune and complement system were found. In addition, growth factors, receptors, hormone-associated proteins and many other proteins were found to be associated with HDL. Our approach thus resulted in the identification of a large number of proteins associated with HDL. The combination of proteomic technologies proved to be a powerful and comprehensive tool for the identification of proteins on HDL.     

Intracellular DNA-protein complexes from bacteriophage T4-infected cells isolated by a rapid two-step procedure. Characterization and identification of the protein components.

A simple technique has been developed for isolating intracellular DNA and its bound proteins from uninfected and phage-infected bacteria. This technique, which utilizes aqueous salt concentrations in the physiological range, is based upon the fact that DNA exists in normal cell lysates in a stiff random coil conformation, and has an unusually large excluded volume to mass ratio. Such stiff coils display a unique combination of low sedimentation coefficient and large Stokes radius, enabling them to be separated rapidly from all other cellular components by successive centrifugal and gel permeation steps. Analysis of this purified intracellular DNA fraction from bacteriophage T4-infected Escherichia coli reveals mainly DNA and protein, with a small amount of RNA also present. Among the major proteins obtained are the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of the host and the products of T4 genes rIIA, rIIB, and 32 (DNA-"unwinding" protein). Small amounts of the proteins coded by T4 genes 43 (DNA polymerase) and 42 (dCMP hydroxymethylase) have also been identified, in addition to at least 13 other phage-coded proteins of unidentified genes. Much of the phage-coded protein in the complex, including the gene 32 protein, does not exchange readily with the same protein exogenously added in the lysate.     

The reactive triazine dyes: Their usefulness and limitations in protein purifications

Antibodies, interferons, blood clotting factors and enzymes ranging from dehydrogenases and kinases to tRNA synthetases and restriction endonucleases are now purified by chromatography on the immobilized triazine dyes. The range of interactions between the dyes and proteins is so wide that the technique can no longer be termed a truly group-specific affinity chromatographic method. Nevertheless, because the dyeligands are cheap, easy to immobilize and have large capacities for proteins, the method is useful in both preparative and large-scale purifications as an alternative to both conventional and affinity chromatographic techniques.     

Screening for Amyloid Aggregation by Semi-Denaturing Detergent-Agarose Gel Electrophoresis

Amyloid aggregation is associated with numerous protein misfolding pathologies and underlies the infectious properties of prions, which are conformationally self-templating proteins that are thought to have beneficial roles in lower organisms. Amyloids have been notoriously difficult to study due to their insolubility and structural heterogeneity. However, resolution of amyloid polymers based on size and detergent insolubility has been made possible by Semi-Denaturing Detergent-Agarose Gel Electrophoresis (SDD-AGE). This technique is finding widespread use for the detection and characterization of amyloid conformational variants. Here, we demonstrate an adaptation of this technique that facilitates its use in large-scale applications, such as screens for novel prions and other amyloidogenic proteins. The new SDD-AGE method uses capillary transfer for greater reliability and ease of use, and allows any sized gel to be accomodated. Thus, a large number of samples, prepared from cells or purified proteins, can be processed simultaneously for the presence of SDS-insoluble conformers of tagged proteins.     

His tag effect on solubility of human proteins produced in Escherichia coli: a comparison between four expression vectors

We have compared four different vectors for expression of proteins with N- or C-terminal hexahistidine (His6) tags in Escherichia coli by testing these on 20 human proteins. We looked at a total recombinant protein production levels per gram dry cell weight, solubility of the target proteins, and yield of soluble and total protein when purified by immobilized metal ion affinity purification. It was found that, in general, both N- and C-terminal His6 tags have a noticeable negative affect on protein solubility, but the effect is target protein specific. A solubilizing fusion tag was able to partly counteract this negative effect. Most target proteins could be purified under denaturing conditions and about half of the proteins could be purified under physiological conditions. The highest protein production levels and yield of purified protein were obtained from a construct with C-terminal His tag. We also observe a large variation in cell growth rate, which we determined to be partly caused by the expression vectors and partly by the targets. This variation was found to be independent of the production level, solubility and tertiary structure content of the target proteins.     

Protein microarrays for gene expression and antibody screening.

Proteins translate genomic sequence information into function, enabling biological processes. As a complementary approach to gene expression profiling on cDNA microarrays, we have developed a technique for high-throughput gene expression and antibody screening on chip-size protein microarrays. Using a picking/spotting robot equipped with a new transfer stamp, protein solutions were gridded onto polyvinylidene difluoride filters at high density. Specific purified protein was detected on the filters with high sensitivity (250 amol or 10 pg of a test protein). On a microarray made from bacterial lysates of 92 human cDNA clones expressed in a microtiter plate, putative protein expressors could be reliably identified. The rate of false-positive clones, expressing proteins in incorrect reading frames, was low. Product specificity of selected clones was confirmed on identical microarrays using monoclonal antibodies. Cross-reactivities of some antibodies with unrelated proteins imply the use of protein microarrays for antibody specificity screening against whole libraries of proteins. Because this application would not be restricted to antigen-antibody systems, protein microarrays should provide a general resource for high-throughput screens of gene expression and receptor-ligand interactions.     

Crossed immunoelectrophoresis, in the presence of tween 20 or sodium deoxycholate, of purified membrane proteins from Acholeplasma laidlawii.

Five membrane proteins from Acholeplasma laidlawii have been previously purified on a large scale. These proteins have been used to establish the relationship between the precipitation lines obtained by crossed immunoelectrophoresis of solubilized cell membrane proteins from A. laidlawii in the presence of the neutral detergent Tween 20 or those obtained in the presence of the anionic detergent sodium deoxycholate. This relationship, which was unambiguously established for four of the five proteins, was determined by tandem or "parallel" crossed immunoelectrophoresis of the sodium deoxycholate-solubilized membrane together with the purified proteins. Membranes from strain A of A. laidlawii were composed of proteins, which were immunologically related to and probably identical to membrane proteins from strain B of this organism.     

Identification, immunoaffinity purification and initial characterization of a novel 71 kD human decidua associated protein by use of specific monoclonal antibodies

This study is part of an ongoing attempt to identify and characterize proteins associated with the human decidual tissue. A novel decidual-associated glycoprotein with an apparent molecular weight of 71 kD named hDP71 (human decidual-protein 71), has been identified and purified by immunoaffinity technique using monoclonal antibodies. The monoclonal antibodies recognizing the hDP71 were raised against a partly purified preparation of decidual associated proteins, which was obtained by immunoabsorption of serum proteins from crude decidual extract. Although the hDP71 was copurified with another decidual-associated glycoprotein, the previously described hDP200 (Halperin et al., 1989), evidence is presented showing that the monoclonal antibodies described above are specific for hDP71.     

Turnover of sarcoplasmic proteins in the breast muscle of rapidly growing chicks

1. Turnover of the sarcoplasmic proteins aldolase, phosphoglycerate mutase, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine phosphokinase isolated from chicken breast muscle was investigated using a pulse labelling technique. 2. A single injection of [U-14C]leucine was given and the proteins were extracted and purified at 2, 6, 15, 30, 48 and 72 hr following administration. Specific radioactivity in all of these isolated enzymes showed unexpected multiple peak profiles which did not intersect with the specific radioactivity profile of the blood plasma. 3. These results were interpreted as showing that either a large proportion of these proteins was not turned over in rapidly growing muscle or that the plasma amino acid pool was not the precursor pool for muscle protein synthesis. 4. The results also suggested that at least two sub-populations of the proteins exist within the muscle tissue. 5. A further conclusion drawn from these data was that established techniques of pulse labelling may seriously overestimate the rate of protein synthesis in growing muscle.