Intensified process for the purification of an enzyme from inclusion bodies using integrated expanded bed adsorption and refolding

This work describes the integration of expanded bed adsorption (EBA) and adsorptive protein refolding operations in an intensified process used to recover purified and biologically active proteins from inclusion bodies expressed in E. coli. Delta(5)-3-Ketosteroid isomerase with a C-terminal hexahistidine tag was expressed as inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm of E. coli. Chemical extraction was used to disrupt the host cells and simultaneously solubilize the inclusion bodies, after which EBA utilizing immobilized metal affinity interactions was used to purify the polyhistidine-tagged protein. Adsorptive refolding was then initiated in the column by changing the denaturant concentration in the feed stream from 8 to 0 M urea. Three strategies were tested for performing the refolding step in the EBA column: (i) the denaturant was removed using a step change in feed-buffer composition, (ii) the denaturant was gradually removed using a gradient change in feed-buffer composition, and (iii) the liquid flow direction through the column was reversed and adsorptive refolding performed in the packed bed. Buoyancy-induced mixing disrupted the operation of the expanded bed when adsorptive refolding was performed using either a step change or a rapid gradient change in feed-buffer composition. A shallow gradient reduction in denaturant concentration of the feed stream over 30 min maintained the stability of the expanded bed during adsorptive refolding. In a separate experiment, buoyancy-induced mixing was completely avoided by performing refolding in a settled bed, which achieved comparable yields to refolding in an expanded bed but required a slightly more complex process. A total of 10% of the available KSI-(His(6)) was recovered as biologically active and purified protein using the described purification and refolding process, and the yield was further increased to 19% by performing a second iteration of the on-column refolding operation. This process should be applicable for other polyhistidine tagged proteins and is likely to have the greatest benefit for proteins that tend to aggregate when refolded by dilution.     

Direct process integration of extraction and expanded bed adsorption in the recovery of crocetin derivatives from Fructus Gardenia

A process that integrated an extraction tank (EXT) and an expanded bed adsorption (EBA) into a new system EXT-EBA for direct purifying crocetin derivatives from Fructus Gardenia was described. Conditions were set to allow the extraction and purification in a single step. A comparison between the integrated process and the conventional process to purify crocetin derivatives was presented. The integrated process resulted in 52.79% recovery of crocin compared to 24.12% in the conventional process. The process time and solvent used were decreased in the integrated process. The result suggests that the EXT-EBA integrates extraction, clarification, and purification in a single step, greatly simplifying the process flow and reducing the cost and time of extraction and purification of crocetin derivatives from Fructus Gardenia.     

Continuous processing of fusion protein expressed as an Escherichia coli inclusion body

In this study we develop the components of an integrated process for the continuous extraction and purification of a histidine-tagged fusion protein expressed as an inclusion body in Escherichia coli. Lac21 was selected as a model peptide and was expressed as a fusion to ketosteroid isomerase. A purification strategy was developed on a 1-ml batch column before successful scale-up and transfer to a continuous purification system, having a bed volume of 240 ml. Preliminary experiments proved cleavage of the fusion protein. The use of chemical extraction and continuous chromatography gives a flowsheet far superior to the traditional methods for inclusion body processing.     

A Study of the interaction of HEK-293 cells with streamline chelating adsorbent in expanded bed operation

Expanded bed adsorption (EBA) is an efficient protein purification process reducing time and steps of downstream processing (DSP) since nonclarified culture media can be processed directly without prior treatments such as filtration or centrifugation. However, cells and debris can interact with the adsorbent and affect bed stability as well as purification performance. To optimize EBA operating conditions these biomass/adsorbent interactions have to be understood and characterized. The adsorption of Human Embryonic Kidney cells (HEK 293) on unprimed and nickel-primed metal affinity adsorbent was studied in a closed loop EBA setup. With the unprimed adsorbent, the overall level of interaction observed was nonsignificant. With the nickel-primed adsorbent and an initial cell concentration ranging from 0.08 x 10(6) to 0.2 x 10(6) cells/mL, biomass/adsorbent interaction was found to be moderate and the adsorption apparent first-order kinetic rate constant was determined to be k = 0.009 to 0.011 min(-1).     

Coupling of chemical extraction and expanded-bed adsorption for simplified inclusion-body processing: optimization using surface plasmon resonance

Integration of the chemical extraction of recombinant inclusion-body protein from Escherichia coli, and its recovery by metal-affinity expanded-bed adsorption (IMAC-EBA) under denaturing conditions, was investigated. The viral coat protein L1 with a hexa-histidine tag was expressed in Escherichia coli HMS174(DE3) as a model protein. Interference of released host DNA with adsorbent fluidization in the EBA step was solved by selective precipitation using spermine and low-speed centrifugation. However, the capacity and selectivity of the adsorbent for L1 remained lower than anticipated. The binding of L1 to immobilized Ni(2+) was therefore studied in detail using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The Tris buffer and ethylene-diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) used in the extraction mixture were found to interfere significantly with the L1-Ni(2+) interaction. The SPR studies suggest that L1 binding could be improved by replacing the Tris buffer with HEPES and by adding CaCl(2) to inactivate the EDTA. The modified chemical extraction conditions resulted in effective L1 extraction from cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, at high cell density (OD(600 )= 80) and without the use of reducing agent, into a medium optimized for subsequent IMAC recovery. The modified buffer conditions resulted in an improved binding capacity and a good L1 purification factor (12.7) and recovery yield (71%). This work demonstrates that it is possible to reduce the complexity and hence the cost associated with traditional processes used to prepare purified denatured protein, ready for refolding, from cytoplasmic inclusion bodies.     

Production and characterization of clinical grade Escherichia coli derived Plasmodium falciparum 42 kDa merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1(42)) in the absence of an affinity tag

The 42 kDa cleavage product from the carboxyl end of the Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1(42)) is an important blood-stage malaria vaccine target. Several recombinant protein expression systems have been used for production of MSP1(42) including yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris), Escherichia coli, baculovirus and transgenic animals. To date, all of the reported recombinant proteins include a 6 x His affinity tag to facilitate purification, including three MSP1(42) clinical grade proteins currently in human trials. Under some circumstances, the presence of the 6 x His tag may not be desirable. Therefore, we were interested to produce clinical grade MSP1(42) without a 6 x His affinity tag from E. coli inclusion bodies. We produced a recombinant MSP1(42) with a P. falciparum FUP (Uganda-Palo Alto) phenotype which accounts for a substantial proportion of the MSP1(42) protein observed in African isolates. EcMSP1(42)-FUP was produced in E. coli inclusion bodies by high cell mass induction with IPTG using 5 L and 60 L bioreactors. Isolated inclusion bodies were solubilized in 8M guanidine-HCl and the EcMSP1(42)-FUP protein refolded by rapid dilution. Refolded EcMSP1(42)-FUP was purified using hydrophobic interaction chromatography, anion exchange chromatography, and size exclusion chromatography, and subject to biochemical characterization for integrity, identity, and purity. Endotoxin and host cell protein levels were within acceptable limits for human use. The process was successfully transferred to pilot-scale production in a cGMP environment. A final recovery of 87.8 mg of clinical-grade material per liter of fermentation broth was achieved. The EcMSP1(42)-FUP clinical antigen is available for preclinical evaluation and human studies.     

Comparison of classical and affinity purification techniques of Mason-Pfizer monkey virus capsid protein: the alteration of the product by an affinity tag

The efficiencies of different procedures for purification of the capsid protein (CA) of Mason-Pfizer monkey virus are compared. Plasmids encoding both wild-type CA and two C-terminally modified sequences of CA suitable for affinity chromatography purification were prepared. CA was expressed in Escherichia coli (i) as a wild-type protein, (ii) C-terminally extended with a six-histidine tag (CA 6His), and (iii) as a protein containing a C-terminal fusion to a viral protease cleavage site followed by a six-histidine tag (CA 6aa6His). Electron microscopy was used for comparison of the resulting proteins, as CA is a structural protein with no enzymatic activity. We have found that these C-terminal fusions dramatically influenced the properties and morphology of structures formed by CA protein in E. coli. The formation of amorphous aggregates of CA was abolished and CA 6His and CA 6aa6His proteins formed organized structures. CA and CA 6aa6His accumulated in bacteria in inclusion bodies as insoluble proteins, CA 6His was found in a soluble form. Both six-histidine-tagged proteins were purified using affinity chromatography under either native (CA 6His) or denaturing (CA 6aa6His) conditions. CA protein was purified under denaturing conditions using gel-filtration chromatography followed by refolding. All proteins were obtained at a purity >98%. Both aforementioned C-terminal extensions led to dramatic changes in behavior of the products and they also affected the tendency to form organized structures within E. coli. We show here that the widely used histidine anchor may significantly alter the properties of the protein of interest.     

Isolation of a recombinant formate dehydrogenase by pseudo-affinity expanded bed adsorption.

Formate dehydrogenase (FDH) is an enzyme of industrial interest, which is recombinantly expressed as an intracellular protein in Escherichia coli. In order to establish an efficient and reliable purification protocol, an expanded bed adsorption (EBA) process was developed, starting from the crude bacterial homogenate. EBA process design was performed with the goal of finding operating conditions which, on one hand, allow efficient adsorption of the target protein and which, on the other hand, support the formation of a perfectly classified fluidised bed (expanded bed) in the crude feed solution. A pseudo-affinity ligand (Procion Red HE3B) was used to bind the FDH with high selectivity and reasonable capacity (maximum equilibrium capacity of 30 U/ml). Additionally, a simplified modelling approach, involving small packed beds for generation of process parameters, was employed for defining the operating conditions during sample application. In combination with extended elution studies, a process was set up, which could be scaled up to 7.5 l of adsorbent volume yielding a total amount of 100,000 U of 94% pure FDH per run. On this scale, 19 l of a benzonase-treated E. coli homogenate of 15% wet-weight (pH 7.5, 9 mS/cm conductivity) were loaded to the pseudo-affinity adsorbent (0.25 m sed. bed height, 5 x 10(-4) m/s fluid velocity). After a series of two wash steps, a particle-free eluate pool was obtained with 85% yield of FDH. This excellently demonstrates the suitability of expanded bed adsorption for efficient isolation of proteins by combining solid-liquid separation with adsorptive purification in a single unit operation.     

The refolding, purification, and activity analysis of a rice Bowman-Birk inhibitor expressed in Escherichia coli

A putative rice trypsin/chymotrypsin inhibitor of the Bowman-Birk family, RBBI-8 of about 20 kDa, was expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein bearing an N-terminal (His)6 purification tag. The expressed recombinant protein, rRBBI-8, is insoluble and accumulates as inclusion bodies. The insoluble protein was solubilized in 8 M urea under reducing environment and then refolded into its active conformation under optimized redox conditions. Strategies used to optimize yield and efficiency include selecting the redox system, increasing protein concentration during refolding by adding the denatured protein in a stepwise way, utilizing additives to prevent aggregation, and selecting buffer-exchanging conditions. A Ni-chelate affinity column was then employed to purify the renatured protein. rRBBI-8 shows strong inhibitory activity against trypsin and it can slightly inhibit chymotrypsin. In this study, a refolding and purification system was set up for this cysteine-rich recombinant protein expressed in a prokaryotic system.     

Comparative evaluation of three purification methods for the nucleocapsid protein of Newcastle disease virus from Escherichia coli homogenates

In the present study, the performances of conventional purification methods, packed bed adsorption (PBA), and expanded bed adsorption (EBA) for the purification of the nucleocapsid protein (NP) of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) from Escherichia coli homogenates were evaluated. The conventional methods for the recovery of NP proteins involved multiple steps, such as centrifugation, precipitation, dialysis, and sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. For the PBA, clarified feedstock was used for column loading, while in EBA, unclarified feedstock was used. Streamline chelating immobilized with Ni2+ ion was used as an affinity ligand for both PBA and EBA. The final protein yield obtained in conventional and PBA methods was 1.26% and 5.56%, respectively. It was demonstrated that EBA achieved the highest final protein yield of 9.6% with a purification factor of 7. Additionally, the total processing time of the EBA process has been shortened by 8 times compared to that of the conventional method.     

Hydrophobic interaction expanded bed adsorption chromatography (HI-EBAC) based facile purification of recombinant streptokinase from E. coli inclusion bodies

The downstream processing of recombinant streptokinase (rSK), a protein used for dissolution of blood clots has been investigated employing Escherichia coli inclusion bodies obtained after direct chemical extraction followed by expanded bed adsorption chromatography (EBAC). Streptokinase was over-expressed using high cell density (final OD(600)=40) culture of recombinant E. coli, and an SK protein concentration of 1080 mg l(-1) was achieved. The wet cell pellet after centrifugation was re-suspended in 8M urea containing buffer resulting in direct extraction of almost 97% of cellular proteins into solution. Compared to mechanical disruption using sonication, the direct extraction helped in simultaneous cell lysis and inclusion body (IB) solubilization in a single integrated step. The post-extraction solution containing cell debris and cellular proteins was diluted and directly loaded on to an EBAC column containing Streamline phenyl, without clarification. By passing the solution four times through the column and using 1M NaCl during loading, 82.7% rSK activity could be recovered in the 10mM sodium phosphate buffer used for elution. A 3-fold increase in specific activity of rSK, from 0.18 x 10(5) in cell lysate to 0.53 x 10(5)IU mg(-1) resulted after this step. rSK was further purified to near-homogeneity (specific activity=0.96 x 10(5)IU mg(-1)) by a subsequent ion-exchange step operated in packed bed mode. An overall downstream recovery of 63% rSK was achieved after EBAC and ion exchange chromatography. The paper thus describes the purification of rSK using a three-step regime involving simple, efficient and highly facile steps.     

Facilitated downstream processing of a histidine-tagged protein from unclarified E. coli homogenates using immobilized metal affinity expanded-bed adsorption

The facilitated downstream processing of an intracellular, polyhistidine-tagged protein, glutathione S-transferase [GST-(His)(6)], direct from unclarified E. coli homogenates using expanded beds of STREAMLINE chelating, has been investigated. A series of pilot experiments were used to develop preparative-scale separations of GST-(His)(6), initially in packed and then in expanded beds. Packed beds of Ni(2+)-loaded STREAMLINE chelating proved to have the highest 5% dynamic capacity for GST-(His)(6), of 357 U mL(-1) (36 mg mL(-1)). When using immobilized Cu(2+) or Zn(2+), metal ion transfer was observed from the iminodiacetate ligands to the high-affinity chelator, GST-(His)(6). The subsequent metal affinity precipitation of this homodimer resulted in operational problems. An equilibrium adsorption isotherm demonstrated the high affinity of GST-(His)(6) for immobilized Ni(2+), with a q(m) of 695 U mL(-1) (70 mg mL(-1)) and a K(d) of 0.089 U mL(-1) (0.0089 mg mL(-1)). Ni(2+)-loaded STREAMLINE chelating was therefore selected to purify GST-(His)(6) from unclarified E. coli homogenate, resulting in an eluted yield of 80% and a 3.34-fold purification. The high dynamic capacity in the expanded mode of 357 U mL(-1) (36 mg mL(-1)) demonstrates that this specific interaction was not affected by the presence of E. coli cell debris.     

SUA41蛋白表达和纯化及其多克隆抗体制备

旨在制备特异性SUA41多克隆抗体,为深入研究其在植物生长发育中的功能提供有力的分子生物学和生物化学的工具。PCR扩增拟南芥SUA41基因中编码280个氨基酸(401-680位氨基酸)的特异片段,经过GATEWAY的DNA重组技术构建了原核表达载体pDEST17-SUA41,用热休克法转化到E.coliBL21(DE3)star感受态细胞,以异丙基β-D-硫代半乳糖苷(IPTG)诱导表达出6×His-SUA41融合蛋白,用8 mol/L尿素缓冲液溶解包涵体并且经过水逐级去除尿素获得提纯的融合蛋白,并利用Western blotting鉴定确认。融合蛋白经Ni金属螯合柱亲和层析得以纯化,用SDS-PAGE进一步纯化。纯化的融合蛋白经过SDS-PAGE后切胶回收,免疫小白兔,制备多抗血清,然后用Western blotting进行检测,鉴定血清特异性和效价。结果显示,融合蛋白6×His-SUA41免疫兔,产生特异性的SUA41兔抗血清,可以检测到细菌和拟南芥组织中SUA41蛋白。用水提纯变性剂尿素溶解的包涵体蛋白具有可行性。制备的特异性SUA41兔抗血清效价高,能够有效地识别大肠杆菌表达的和拟南芥的SUA41蛋白。在有合适的对照情况下,该兔抗血清可以用于分析植物中SUA41蛋白的功能。     

Single-step recovery and solid-phase refolding of inclusion body proteins using a polycationic purification tag

A strategy for purification of inclusion body-forming proteins is described, in which the positively charged domain Z(basic) is used as a fusion partner for capture of denatured proteins on a cation exchange column. It is shown that the purification tag is selective under denaturing conditions. Furthermore, the new strategy for purification of proteins from inclusion bodies is compared with the commonly used method for purification of His(6)-tagged inclusion body proteins. Finally, the simple and effective means of target protein capture provided by the Z(basic) tag is further successfully explored for solid-phase refolding. This procedure has the inherited advantage of combining purification and refolding in one step and offers the advantage of eluting the concentrated product in a suitable buffer.     

A simplified bioprocess for human alpha-fetoprotein production from inclusion bodies

A simple and effective Escherichia coli (E. coli) bioprocess is demonstrated for the preparation of recombinant human alpha-fetoprotein (rhAFP), a pharmaceutically promising protein that has important immunomodulatory functions. The new rhAFP process employs only unit operations that are easy to scale and validate, and reduces the complexity embedded in existing inclusion body processing methods. A key requirement in the establishment of this process was the attainment of high purity rhAFP prior to protein refolding because (i) rhAFP binds easily to hydrophobic contaminants once refolded, and (ii) rhAFP aggregates during renaturation, in a contaminant- dependent way. In this work, direct protein extraction from cell suspension was coupled with a DNA precipitation-centrifugation step prior to purification using two simple chromatographic steps. Refolding was conducted using a single-step, redox-optimized dilution refolding protocol, with refolding success determined by reversed phase HPLC analysis, ELISA, and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Quantitation of DNA and protein contaminant loads after each unit operation showed that contaminant levels were reduced to levels comparable to traditional flowsheets. Protein microchemical modification due to carbamylation in this urea-based process was identified and minimized, yielding a final refolded and purified product that was significantly purified from carbamylated variants. Importantly, this work conclusively demonstrates, for the first time, that a chemical extraction process can substitute the more complex traditional inclusion body processing flowsheet, without compromising product purity and yield. This highly intensified and simplified process is expected to be of general utility for the preparation of other therapeutic candidates expressed as inclusion bodies.     

Ion exchange purification of G6PDH from unclarified yeast cell homogenates using expanded bed adsorption

The use of expanded beds of STREAMLINE ion exchange adsorbents for the direct extraction of an intracellular enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) from unclarified yeast cell homogenates has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that such crude feedstocks can be applied to the bed without prior clarification steps. The purification of G6PDH from an unclarified yeast homogenate was chosen as a model system containing the typical features of a direct extraction technique. Optimal conditions for the purification were determined in small scale, packed bed experiments conducted with clarified homogenates. Results from these experiments were used to develop a preparative scale separation of G6PDH in a STREAMLINE 50 EBA apparatus. The use of an on-line rotameter for measuring and controlling the height of the expanded bed when operated in highly turbid feedstocks was demonstrated. STREAMLINE DEAE has been shown to be successful in achieving isolation of G6PDH from an unclarified homogenate with a purification factor of 12 and yield of 98% in a single step process. This ion exchange adsorbent is readily cleaned using simple cleaning-in-place procedures without affecting either adsorption or the bed expansion properties of the adsorbent after many cycles of operation. The ability of combining clarification, capture, and purification in a single step will greatly simplify downstream processing flowsheets and reduce the costs of protein purification. (c) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Clarification and capture of high‐concentration refold pools for E. coli‐based therapeutics using expanded bed adsorption chromatography

Expanded bed adsorption (EBA) chromatography was investigated for clarification and capture of high‐concentration refold pools of Escherichia coli‐based therapeutics. Refolding of denatured inclusion bodies (IBs) at high protein concentration significantly improved product throughput; however, direct filtration of the refold materials became very challenging because of high content of protein precipitates formed during refolding. In addition, irreversible protein precipitation caused by high local concentration was encountered in packed bed capture during cation exchange chromatography elution, which limited column loading capacity and capture step productivity. In this study, the two issues are addressed in one unit operation by using EBA. Specifically, EBA can handle feed streams with significant amount of particles and precipitates, which eliminated the need for refold pool clarification through filtration. The relatively broad EBA elution profile is particularly suitable for proteins of low solubility and can effectively avoid product loss previously associated with on‐column precipitation during capture. As the EBA resin (RHOBUST^® FastLine SP IEX) used here has unique properties, it can be operated at high linear velocity (800–1,600 cm/h), while achieving a selectivity and impurity clearance largely comparable to the packed bed resin of the same ligand chemistry (SP Sepharose FF). Furthermore, the filtration of the EBA elution pool is easily manageable within facility capability. Overall, this study demonstrates that the EBA process helps debottleneck the purification of high‐turbidity refold pools by removing precipitates and concurrently capturing the product, which can be applied to other E. coli‐based therapeutics that also requires refolding of IBs. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 30:113–123, 2014     

Gateway vectors for the production of combinatorially-tagged His6-MBP fusion proteins in the cytoplasm and periplasm of Escherichia coli

Many proteins that accumulate in the form of insoluble aggregates when they are overproduced in Escherichia coli can be rendered soluble by fusing them to E. coli maltose binding protein (MBP), and this will often enable them to fold in to their biologically active conformations. Yet, although it is an excellent solubility enhancer, MBP is not a particularly good affinity tag for protein purification. To compensate for this shortcoming, we have engineered and successfully tested Gateway destination vectors for the production of dual His6MBP-tagged fusion proteins in the cytoplasm and periplasm of E. coli. The MBP moiety improves the yield and solubility of its fusion partners while the hexahistidine tag (His-tag) serves to facilitate their purification. The availability of a vector that targets His6MBP fusion proteins to the periplasm expands the utility of this dual tagging approach to include proteins that contain disulfide bonds or are toxic in the bacterial cytoplasm.     

Refolding and purification of recombinant OsNifU1A domain II that was expressed by Escherichia coli

OsNifU1A is a NifU-like rice (Oryza sativa) protein, discovered recently. Its amino acid sequence is very homologous to the sequence of cyanobacterial CnfU and to the sequences of NifU C-terminal domains. Based on its sequence, OsNifU1A is probably a modular structure consisting of two CnfU-like domains, with domain I (formed by residues Leu73 to Gly153) and domain II (formed by residues Leu154 to Ser226). Domain I have a conserved Cys-X-X-Cys motif, which may function as an iron-sulfur cluster assembly scaffold. Domain II lacks a Cys-X-X-Cys motif and therefore, cannot function analogously. Other NifU-like proteins, with sequences homologous to OsNifU1A domain II, have been identified during plant genomic projects; however, the biological roles of these domains remain unknown. We successfully constructed an Escherichia coli expression system for OsNifU1A domain II that enabled us to synthesize and purify milligram quantities of protein for use in structural and functional studies. Using the Gateway system, we built DNA sequences corresponding to two OsNifU1A domain II fusion proteins. One construct has a (His)6 sequence upstream of the OsNifU1A domain II sequence; the other has an upstream thioredoxin-(His)6 sequence. Recombinant OsNifU1A domain II fusion proteins were extracted from E. coli inclusion bodies by dissolving them in 6 M guanidine-HCl. About 36% of the total (His)6/OsNifU1A domain II fusion protein initially present remained soluble after guanidine-HCl was completely removed by step-wise dialysis; whereas, recovery of soluble Trx-(His)6 fusion protein was about 60% of the total cell lysate. About 2 mg of 15N-labeled OsNifU1A domain II was purified for NMR spectral studies. Examination of the OsNifU1A domain II 1H-15N HSQC NMR spectrum indicated that the purified protein was monomeric and correctly folded. Therefore, we established an efficient procedure for synthesis and purification of 15N-labeled OsNifU1A domain II in quantities sufficient for heteronuclear NMR solution structure studies.     

High yield expression of human BACE constructs in Eschericia coli for refolding, purification, and high resolution diffracting crystal forms

BACE (beta-site APP cleaving enzyme) or beta-secretase, the enzyme responsible for processing APP to give the N-terminal portion of the Abeta peptide, is a membrane bound aspartyl protease consisting of an ectodomain catalytic unit, a C-terminal transmembrane segment and a cytoplasmic domain. Three BACE constructs, pET11a-BACE, pQE80L-BACE, and pQE70-BACE were designed to terminate at a position just before the transmembrane domain (Ser(432)) and are described schematically below. (1) pET11a-T7.Tag-G-S-M-(A-8GV......QTDES(432)), (2) pQE80L-Met-R-G-S-(His)(6)-G-S-I-E-T-D-(T(1)QH...QTDES(432)), and (3) pQE70-Met-BACE (R(36)GSFVEMG....PQTDES(432) (His) (6)) Each construct was over-expressed in Escherichia coli as inclusion bodies. The inclusion body proteins were solubilized in urea and refolded by dilution in water to yield active enzyme. Maximal activity for pET11a-BACE and pQE80L-BACE was usually reached at day 3 to 4, while construct pQE70-BACE required about 21 days. Active BACE was purified to homogeneity by anion-exchange chromatography and affinity chromatography over a column of immobilized peptide inhibitor. The process, easily scalable to 60 liters of cell culture, yielded in excess of 400 mg of active enzyme for crystallographic analysis. Highly purified pET11a-BACE and pQE70-BACE formed complexes with various inhibitors, the latter protein giving crystals diffracting up to 1.45 A resolution. In addition, a crystal form that does not require the presence of an inhibitor has been obtained for pQE70-BACE. This ligand-free crystal form has proven useful for the preparation of BACE-inhibitor complexes in soaking experiments.