Aminoglycoside-3'-phosphotransferase I from aminoglycoside-polyresistant strain E. coli 182]

An aminoglycoside-3'-phosphotransferase I catalyzing phosphorylation of some aminoglycoside antibiotics with the 3'-hydroxyl group has been purified from the cells of aminoglycoside resistant strain E. coli 182 by competitive affinity chromatography on neomycin-Sepharose and gel-filtration on Sephadex G-100. The product of enzymatic phosphorylation of kanamycin A was isolated and identified as kanamycin-3'-phosphate by NMR, thin-layer chromatography and chemical characterization. The kinetic properties of the enzyme were studied. The pH-optimum was between 7,8--8,0; the [S]0.5 values for kanamycin, neomycin and paromomycin were 2.10(-5) M, the energy of activation was 15,9 kcal/mol. The bivalent cations were required for activity of the enzyme, Mg2+ was the most effecient. The relative aminoglycoside antibiotics containing no 3'-hydroxyl group were competitive inhibitors of the enzyme activity with Ki values close to [S]0.5.     

Purification of alpha-hemolysin from an overproducing E. coli strain

Summary The genetic determinant of the -hemolysin encoded by plasmid pHly152 has been cloned in both orientations in plasmid pBR322 giving rise to plasmids pSU157 and pSU158. E. coli strains carrying either of these recombinant Hly plasmids produced about 20 times more hemolysin activity than the parental plasmid pHly152, when grown in minimal medium supplemented with hemoglobin. Thus high hemolytic activity is not lethal to the cells, contrary to previous assumptions.-hemolysin was purified from culture supernatants of strain SU100 (pSU157) by ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration in Sephacryl S-200 in the presence of 6 M urea. When purified -hemolysin preparations were subjected to electrophoretic analysis in denaturing conditions, a single 107 kdal polypeptide was observed. This probably corresponds to the -hemolysin protein, since an isogenic E. coli strain carrying plasmid pSU161, an Hly^- mutant derivative of pSU157, did not synthesize the 107 kdal polypeptide.     

Effects of cultural conditions on the production of phenylalanine from a plasmid-harboring E. coli strain

Summary Phenylalanine production from E. coli KA 197/pJN6 (plasmid harboring genes for aro F, phe A^FBR, Amp^R and Tc^R) was studied under varying nutritional conditions in batch and continuous cultures. In batch culture experiments where growth was deliberately interrupted by limiting concentrations of sulphate and phosphate the phenylalanine production continued from the non-growing cells. However, the depletion of phosphate resulted in an immediate cessation of phenylalanine production but thereafter a low specific rate of phenylalanine formation resumed, while the decrease in specific rate of product formation was less after sulphate depletion. In the chemostat experiments, however, phosphate limitation was the only case where the specific rate of phenylalanine formation remained constant, while at the corresponding time in sulphate and glucose limited chemostats it was declining respectively had ceased.     

Development of an E. coli strain for cell-free ADC manufacturing

Recent advances in cell-free protein synthesis have enabled the folding and assembly of full-length antibodies at high titers with extracts from prokaryotic cells. Coupled with the facile engineering of the Escherichia coli translation machinery, E. coli based in vitro protein synthesis reactions have emerged as a leading source of IgG molecules with nonnatural amino acids incorporated at specific locations for producing homogeneous antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs). While this has been demonstrated with extract produced in batch fermentation mode, continuous extract fermentation would facilitate supplying material for large-scale manufacturing of protein therapeutics. To accomplish this, the IgG-folding chaperones DsbC and FkpA, and orthogonal tRNA for nonnatural amino acid production were integrated onto the chromosome with high strength constitutive promoters. This enabled co-expression of all three factors at a consistently high level in the extract strain for the duration of a 5-day continuous fermentation. Cell-free protein synthesis reactions with extract produced from cells grown continuously yielded titers of IgG containing nonnatural amino acids above those from extract produced in batch fermentations. In addition, the quality of the synthesized IgGs and the potency of ADC produced with continuously fermented extract were indistinguishable from those produced with the batch extract. These experiments demonstrate that continuous fermentation of E. coli to produce extract for cell-free protein synthesis is feasible and helps unlock the potential for cell-free protein synthesis as a platform for biopharmaceutical production.     

Conformational changes in E. coli DNA topoisomerase I.

DNA topoisomerases are the enzymes responsible for maintaining the topological states of DNA. In order to change the topology of DNA, topoisomerases pass one or two DNA strands through transient single or double strand breaks in the DNA phosphodiester backbone. It has been proposed that both type IA and type II enzymes change conformation dramatically during the reaction cycle in order to accomplish these transformations. In the case of Escherichia coli DNA topoisomerase I, it has been suggested that a 30 kDa fragment moves away from the rest of the protein to create an entrance into the central hole in the protein. Structures of the 30 kDa fragment reveal that indeed this fragment can change conformation significantly. The fragment is composed of two domains, and while the domains themselves remain largely unchanged, their relative arrangement can change dramatically.