Recombinant expression and characterization of the Candida rugosa lip4 lipase in Pichia pastoris: comparison of glycosylation, activity, and stability

Although Candida rugosa utilizes a nonuniversal serine codon (CUG) for leucine, it is possible to express lipase genes (LIP) in heterologous systems. After replacing the 19 CUG codons in LIP4 with serine codons by site-directed mutagenesis, a recombinant LIP4 was functionally overexpressed in Pichia pastoris in this study. This recombinant glycosylated lipase was secreted into the culture medium with a high purity of 100 mg/liter in a culture broth. Purified recombinant LIP4 had a molecular mass of 60 kDa, showing a range similar to that of lipase in a commercial preparation. Since LIP4 has only a glycosylation site at position Asn-351, this position may also be the major glycosylation site in C. rugosa lipases. Although the thermal stability of recombinant LIP4 significantly increased from 52 to 58 degrees C after glycosylation, there were no significant differences in the catalytic properties of recombinant glycosylated lipase from P. pastoris and the unglycosylated one from Escherichia coil. These two recombinant LIP4s showed higher esterase activities toward long-chain ester (C16 and C18) and exhibited higher lipase activities toward unsaturated and long-chain lipids. In addition, LIP4 does not show interfacial activation as compared with LIP1 toward lipid substrates of tributyrin and triolein. These observations demonstrated that LIP4 shows distinguished catalytic activities with LIP1 in spite of their high sequence homology.     

Expression of active human C1 inhibitor serpin domain in Escherichia coli.

Human C1 inhibitor is a highly glycosylated serine protease inhibitor of the serpin family. The protein contains two disulfide bonds. In this study, an N-terminally truncated form of recombinant C1 inhibitor was overexpressed in Escherichia coli strains BL21(DE3) and AD494(DE3), the latter enabling the formation of disulfide bonds within the cytoplasm. With both strains, a major fraction of the recombinant protein produced appeared to be insoluble. However, the soluble fraction of lysates from strain AD494(DE3) inhibited the C1s target protease in functional assays. Recombinant C1 inhibitor produced in this strain also displayed the ability to complex with C1s in vitro. In contrast, lysates from strain BL21(DE3) displayed no C1 inhibitor activity. These data support the notion that glycosylation is not important, whereas disulfide bond formation appears to be essential for the production of an active recombinant C1 inhibitor. Thus, bacterial strains that permit the formation of disulfide bonds may represent a reliable system for the production of recombinant C1 inhibitor. However, a major obstacle to large-scale production will be to produce the protein in a soluble form. Attempts to increase the yield of soluble protein by coexpression of the GroEL/ES chaperonins resulted in an increase in solubility.     

Leishmania donovani: expression and characterization of Escherichia coli-expressed recombinant chitinase LdCHT1

Leishmania parasites produce chitinase activity (EC. 3.2.1.14) thought to be important in parasite-sandfly interactions and transmission of the parasite to the vertebrate host. Previous observations have suggested that parasite chitinases are involved in degradation of the sandfly peritrophic matrix and the chitinous layer of the cardiac valve cuticle. This chitinase activity is thought to produce an incompetent pharyngeal valve sphincter and a route of egress that allow Leishmania promastigotes to be regurgitated into the site of blood feeding. In the studies reported here, enzymatically active L. donovani chitinase LdCHT1 was expressed as a thioredoxin fusion protein in Escherichia coli strain AD494 (DE3). Recombinant LdCHT1 had a predominantly endochitinase activity, in contrast to previous reports of both exo- and endochitinase activities in axenic culture supernatants of diverse Leishmania spp. promastigotes. The predominant endochitinase activity of recombinant LdCHT1 is consistent with the presumed function of the enzyme in disrupting chitinous structures in the sandfly digestive system to allow transmission.     

Minor structural consequences of alternative CUG codon usage (Ser for Leu) in Candida albicans exoglucanase

In some species of Candida the CUG codon is encoded as serine and not leucine. In the case of the exo-beta-1,3-glucanase from the pathogenic fungus C. albicans there are two such translational events, one in the prepro-leader sequence and the other at residue 64. Overexpression of active mature enzyme in a yeast host indicated that these two positions are tolerant to substitution. By comparing the crystal structure of the recombinant protein with that of the native (presented here), it is seen how either serine or leucine can be accommodated at position 64. Examination of the relatively few solved protein structures from C. albicans indicates that other CUG encoded serines are also found at non-essential surface sites. However such codon usage is rare in C. albicans, in contrast to C. rugosa, with direct implications for respective recombinant protein production.     

Effect of red and infrared radiation on the growth of Escherichia coli cells and production of recombinant barstar protein

Incoherent red and infrared low-intensity light enhanced the growth of the auxotrophic strain Escherichia coli AD494(DE3)pLysS and the production of the recombinant polypeptide barstar. Illumination also stimulated the growth of nonrecombinant E. coli cells.     

破囊壶菌脂肪酶基因的克隆、双温控自诱导表达及酶学性质研究

【目的】克隆破囊壶菌Aurantiochytrium sp.PKU#SW7的脂肪酶基因,实现其在大肠杆菌细胞中异源高效表达,并进行初步酶学性质研究。【方法】基于转录组数据注释,获得脂肪酶基因lip,构建重组基因工程菌Rosetta(DE3)/p ET30-lip,利用双温控自诱导方法高效表达蛋白,表达产物(LIP)经Ni-Agarose His亲和层析柱纯化后进行酶学性质研究。【结果】从Aurantiochytrium sp.PKU#SW7中克隆得到一个大小为873 bp的脂肪酶基因(Gen Bank登录号为KT305964),该酶对p-NPB最适反应温度和pH分别为40°C和8.0。以不同浓度的金属离子Ca~(2+)和Co~(2+)溶液分别保温处理酶液30 min可使酶活提高1.3倍左右;甲醇对脂肪酶的抑制作用不明显。在最适反应条件下对p-NPP与p-NPB的酶活力分别为70.0±3.1 U/mg和102.5±2.6 U/mg。【结论】Aurantiochytrium sp.PKU#SW7脂肪酶具有良好的特性,符合生物柴油生物催化剂基本要求。     

Chitinases of the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium gallinaceum, a class of enzymes necessary for parasite invasion of the mosquito midgut

The Plasmodium ookinete produces chitinolytic activity that allows the parasite to penetrate the chitin-containing peritrophic matrix surrounding the blood meal in the mosquito midgut. Since the peritrophic matrix is a physical barrier that the parasite must cross to invade the mosquito, and the presence of allosamidin, a chitinase inhibitor, in a blood meal prevents the parasite from invading the midgut epithelium, chitinases (3.2.1.14) are potential targets of malaria parasite transmission-blocking interventions. We have purified a chitinase of the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium gallinaceum and cloned the gene, PgCHT1, encoding it. PgCHT1 encodes catalytic and substrate-binding sites characteristic of family 18 glycohydrolases. Expressed in Escherichia coli strain AD494 (DE3), recombinant PgCHT1 was found to hydrolyze polymeric chitin, native chitin oligosaccharides, and 4-methylumbelliferone derivatives of chitin oligosaccharides. Allosamidin inhibited recombinant PgCHT1 with an IC(50) of 7 microM and differentially inhibited two chromatographically separable P. gallinaceum ookinete-produced chitinase activities with IC(50) values of 7 and 12 microM, respectively. These two chitinase activities also had different pH activity profiles. These data suggest that the P. gallinaceum ookinete uses products of more than one chitinase gene to initiate mosquito midgut invasion.     

The CUG codon is decoded in vivo as serine and not leucine in Candida albicans.

Previous studies have shown that the yeast Candida albicans encodes a unique seryl-tRNA(CAG) that should decode the leucine codon CUG as serine. However, in vitro translation of several different CUG-containing mRNAs in the presence of this unusual seryl-tRNA(CAG) result in an apparent increase in the molecular weight of the encoded polypeptides as judged by SDS-PAGE even though the molecular weight of serine is lower than that of leucine. A possible explanation for this altered electrophoretic mobility is that the CUG codon is decoded as modified serine in vitro. To elucidate the nature of CUG decoding in vivo, a reporter system based on the C. albicans gene (RBP1) encoding rapamycin-binding protein (RBP), coupled to the promoter of the C. albicans TEF3 gene, was utilized. Sequencing and mass-spectrometry analysis of the recombinant RBP expressed in C. albicans demonstrated that the CUG codon was decoded exclusively as serine while the related CUU codon was translated as leucine. A database search revealed that 32 out of the 65 C. albicans gene sequences available have CUG codons in their open reading frames. The CUG-containing genes do not belong to any particular gene family. Thus the amino acid specified by the CUG codon has been reassigned within the mRNAs of C. albicans. We argue here that this unique genetic code change in cellular mRNAs cannot be explained by the 'Codon Reassignment Theory'.     

Design, total synthesis, and functional overexpression of the Candida rugosa lip1 gene coding for a major industrial lipase.

The dimorphic yeast Candida rugosa has an unusual codon usage that hampers the functional expression of genes derived from this yeast in a conventional heterologous host. Commercial samples of C. rugosa lipase (CRL) are widely used in industry, but contain several different isoforms encoded by the lip gene family, among which the isoform encoded by the gene lip1 is the most prominent. In a first laborious attempt, the lip1 gene was systematically modified by site-directed mutagenesis to gain functional expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As alternative approach, the gene (1647 bp) was completely synthesized with an optimized nucleotide sequence in terms of heterologous expression in yeast and simplified genetic manipulation. The synthetic gene was functionally expressed in both hosts S. cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris, and the effect of heterologous leader sequences on expression and secretion was investigated. In particular, using P. pastoris cells, the synthetic gene was functionally overexpressed, allowing for the first time to produce recombinant Lipl of high purity at a level of 150 U/mL culture medium. The physicochemical and catalytic properties of the recombinant lipase were compared with those of a commercial, nonrecombinant C. rugosa lipase preparation containing lipase isoforms.     

Expression of functional scorpion neurotoxin Lqq-V in E.coli

We report the results on the expression in Escherichia coli of a functional neurotoxin LqqV from the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus quinquestriatus. The gene for LqqV was synthesized using recursive PCR and expressed as a poly-histidine-tagged fusion protein in thioredoxin mutant E. coli strain [AD494(DE3)pLysS], thus permitting disulfide-bond formation. When cultured at 37 degrees C, about 50% of the expressed protein is contained as a monomer in the soluble fraction of the E. coli extract. The fusion protein from the soluble fraction was purified and the His-tag was cleaved by thrombin, resulting in a yield of about 1.5 mg/liter. The globular structure of the purified protein was confirmed by NMR and CD spectroscopy. Patch-clamp measurements using native sodium channels in guinea pig ventricular myocytes reveal (1) a slowing of inactivation and (2) a decrease in peak current upon application of toxin, thus confirming the alpha-toxin activity of the purified recombinant protein.     

Cloning, expression and characterization of a cDNA encoding a lipase from Rhizopus delemar.

A lambda gt11 cDNA library was constructed in Escherichia coli using poly(A)-selected mRNA from the fungus, Rhizopus (Rp.) delemar. Lipase-producing members of the library were identified by means of a phenotypic score wherein the release of fatty acids by lipase causes a characteristic color change in the growth medium. One such isolate contained a 1287-bp insert (LIP cDNA) which hybridizes to 1.25- to 1.35-kb mRNA species from Rp. delemar. The lipase produced in E. coli containing the LIP cDNA exhibits the same substrate selectivity as the authentic fungal enzyme, hydrolyzing ester bonds at the stereospecific numbering (sn) sn-1 and sn-3, but not the sn-2, positions of triglycerides. The complete nucleotide sequence of the LIP cDNA was determined. By reference to the N-terminal sequence of authentic Rp. delemar lipase, the lipase-encoding region was identified within this fragment. The LIP cDNA encodes a putative preprolipase consisting of a 26-amino-acid(aa) signal sequence, a 97-aa propeptide, and a 269-aa mature enzyme. The predicted mature lipase has the same molecular weight and aa composition as that of Rp. delemar, is highly homologous to that produced by the fungus Rhizomucor miehei, and contains the consensus pentapeptide (Gly-Xaa-Ser-Yaa-Gly) which is conserved among lipolytic enzymes. It is concluded that the LIP cDNA is an essentially full-length analogue of the lipase-encoding gene of Rp. delemar. The lipase encoded by the LIP cDNA occupies a cytoplasmic location when synthesized in E. coli. Unprocessed forms of the lipase accumulate in E. coli.     

新型促细胞粘附重组人源性胶原的原核表达及功能性研究

选择一段与COL1A1基因相应序列同源、适合于在大肠杆菌E.coli中表达、含有编码促细胞粘附位点GER三肽密码子的基因序列。利用RT-PCR技术自人组织扩增该序列,构建pET28a(+)-COL重组表达质粒并转化到大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)pLysS。IPTG诱导表达获得重组人源性胶原RHDC, 表达量达到菌体总蛋白的40%左右。SDS-PAGE和Western Blot结果推测该胶原具有三螺旋结构。细胞粘附试验证明RHDC具有促细胞粘附能力,具有应用在生物材料领域的潜力。     

Non-universal usage of the leucine CUG codon and the molecular phylogeny of the genus Candida

CUG, a universal leucine codon, was reported to be read as serine in 10 species of the genus Candida. We used an in vitro cell-free translation system to identify the amino acid assignment of codon CUG in 78 species and 7 varieties of galactose-lacking Candida species equipped with Q9 as the major ubiquinone. Of these, only 11 species used codon CUG as a leucine codon. The remaining species decoded CUG as serine. Their small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences were also determined and analyzed using both Neighbor-Joining and Maximum Likelihood methods. The species decoding CUG as serine and leucine formed distinct clusters on both molecular phylogenetic trees. Our result suggests that non-universal decoding is not a rare event, and that it is widely distributed in the genus Candida.     

Autocloning and amplification of LIP2 in Yarrowia lipolytica

We synthesized a Yarrowia lipolytica strain overproducing lipase for industrial applications by using long terminal repeat (zeta) of the Y. lipolytica retrotransposon Ylt1 and an allele of URA3 with a promoter deletion to construct JMP3. JMP3 is a derivative of plasmid pHSS6 carrying a NotI-NotI cassette which contains a defective URA3 allele, a polylinker sequence, and the zeta region for targeting to multiple sites in the genome of the recipient. We inserted the LIP2 gene (encoding extracellular lipase) under the control of the strong POX2 promoter into JMP3 to generate JMP6. The pHSS6 region was removed by NotI digestion prior to transformation. Two Y. lipolytica strains transformed with the JMP6 LIP2 cassette had a mean of 10 integrated copies devoid of the Escherichia coli region, corresponding to an autocloning event. The copy number in the transformants was stable even after 120 generations in nonselective and lipase-inducing conditions. The resulting strains could produce 0.5 g of active lipase per liter in the supernatant, 40 times more than the single-copy strain with the LIP2 promoter. This work provides a new expression system in Y. lipolytica that results in strains devoid of bacterial DNA and in strains producing a high level of lipase for industrial uses, waste treatment, and pancreatic insufficiency therapy.     

Efficient synthesis of mouse thymidylate synthase in Escherichia coli

The coding region of the mouse thymidylate synthase (TS)-encoding cDNA (ts) was inserted downstream from the phage T7 promoter and translation initiation signals of the expression vector, pET-3a, and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)[pLysS]. When the wild-type (wt) cDNA sequence was used, mouse TS was synthesized in the bacterial cells in response to induction, but the level of expression was low. When the second codon (Leu) was changed from CUG, found in the normal mRNA, to CUU, the level of expression increased 17-fold and TS represented 5-10% of total cell protein. The recombinant enzyme was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography. The recombinant TS had the same Mr as the enzyme from cultured mouse fibroblasts. Kinetic studies with the recombinant enzyme showed that the apparent Km values for deoxyuridylate and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate were 10.5 and 22 microM, respectively, which were similar to the values for TS from mouse cell extracts. The mouse ts expression vector will be useful for the large-scale production of the wt enzyme and for the creation and analysis of mutant enzymes by protein engineering techniques.     

Identification of essential residues for catalysis of rat intestinal phospholipase B/lipase

Intestinal brush border membrane-associated phospholipase B/lipase (PLB/LIP) consists of four tandem homologous domains (repeats 1 through 4) and a COOH-terminal membrane binding domain, and repeat 2 is the catalytic domain that catalyzes phospholipase A2, lysophospholipase, and lipase activities. We examined the structural basis of the catalysis of PLB/LIP with this unique substrate specificity by site-directed mutagenesis of recombinant repeat 2 enzyme. Ser414 and Ser459 within the active serine-containing consensus sequence G-X-S-X-G in the best-established lipase family were dispensable for activity. In contrast, substitution of Ala for Ser404 almost completely inactivated the three lipolytic activities of PLB/LIP, even though the gross conformation was not altered as determined by CD spectroscopy. Notably, this Ser is located within the conserved G-D-S-L sequence on the NH2-terminal side in lipolytic enzymes of another group proposed recently. Furthermore, mutagenesis and CD spectroscopic analyses suggested that Asp518 and His659, lying within conserved short stretches in the latter group of lipolytic enzymes, were essential for activity. These three essential residues are conserved in the known PLB/LIP enzymes, suggesting that they form the catalytic triad in the active site. These results indicate that PLB/LIP represents a distinct class of the lipase family. PLB/LIP is the first mammalian member of that family. Repeat 2 is equipped with the triad, but not the other repeats, accounting for why only repeat 2 is the catalytic domain. Replacing Thr406 with Gly, matching the enzyme's sequence to the lipase consensus sequence exactly, led to a great decrease in secretion and accumulation of inactive enzyme in the cells, suggesting a role of Thr406 in the structural stability.     

利用冰核蛋白N末端结构域在大肠杆菌表面展示粘质沙雷氏菌脂肪酶

【目的】利用细胞表面工程技术将活性脂肪酶展示于大肠杆菌细胞表面并对展示脂肪酶的酶学性质进行研究。【方法】将丁香假单胞菌冰核蛋白N末端结构域序列与粘质沙雷氏菌脂肪酶编码基因融合,构建成脂肪酶表面展示载体,并转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)。【结果】重组菌以终浓度0.05 mmol/L异丙基硫代-D-半乳糖苷(IPTG)、25°C条件下诱导培养,16 h后表面展示脂肪酶活力达到最大值1 852 U/g细胞干重。表面展示酶的最适pH为9.0,最适反应温度为40°C,表面展示酶热稳定性较游离酶有较大提高,在40°C孵育1 h后仍能保持90%以上的酶活力。【结论】以上结果表明细菌表面展示技术为脂肪酶固定提供了一个很有前景的替代方法。     

Expression, purification, and characterization of His-tagged Staphylococcus xylosus lipase wild-type and its mutant Asp 290 Ala

The gene encoding the extracellular lipase of Staphylococcus xylosus (SXL) was cloned using PCR technique. The sequence corresponding to the mature lipase was subcloned in the pET-14b expression vector, with a strong T7 promoter, to construct a recombinant lipase protein containing six histidine residues at the N-terminal. High level expression of the lipase by Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells harbouring the lipase gene containing expression vector was observed upon induction with 0.4 mM IPTG at 37 degrees C. One-step purification of the recombinant lipase was achieved with Ni-NTA resin. The specific activity of the purified His-tagged SXL was 1500 or 850 U/mg using tributyrin or olive oil emulsion as substrate, respectively. It has been proposed that the region near the residue Asp290 could be involved in the selection of the substrate. Therefore, we also mutated the residue Asp 290 by Ala using site-directed mutagenesis. The mutant SXL-D290A was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and purified with the same nickel metal affinity column. The specific activity of the purified His-tagged SXL-D290A mutant was 1000 U/mg using either tributyrin or olive oil emulsion as substrate. A comparative study of the wild type (His(6)-SXL) and the mutant (His(6)-SXL-D290A) proteins was carried out. Our results confirmed that Asp290 is important for the chain length specificity and catalytic efficiency of the enzyme.     

Cloning,characterization and expression of the extracellular lipase gene from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aureobasidium </Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">pullulans</Emphasis> HN2-3 isolated from sea saltern

The extracellular lipase structural gene was isolated from cDNA of Aureobasidium pullulans HN2-3 by using SMART^TM RACE cDNA amplification kit. The gene had an open reading frame of 1245 bp long encoding a lipase. The coding region of the gene was interrupted by only one intron (55 bp). It encodes 414 amino acid residues of a protein with a putative signal peptide of 26 amino acids. The protein sequence deduced from the extracellular lipase structural gene contained the lipase consensus sequence (G-X-S-X-G) and three conserved putative N-glycosylation sites. According to the phylogenetic tree of the lipases, the lipase from A. pullulans was closely related to that from Aspergillus fumigatus (XP_750543) and Neosartorya fischeri (XP_001257768) and the identities were 50% and 52%, respectively. The mature peptide encoding cDNA was subcloned into pET-24a (+) expression vector. The recombinant plasmid was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The expressed fusion protein was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and western blotting and a specific band with molecular mass of about 47 kDa was found. Enzyme activity assay verified the recombinant protein as a lipase. A maximum activity of 0.96 U/mg was obtained from cellular extract of E. coli BL21(DE3) harboring pET-24a(+)LIP1. Optimal pH and temperature of the crude recombinant lipase were 8.0 and 35 °C, respectively and the crude recombinant lipase had the highest hydrolytic activity towards peanut oil.