Balancing the Production of Two Recombinant Proteins inEscherichia coliby Manipulating Plasmid Copy Number: High-Level Expression of Heterodimeric Ras Farnesyltransferase

The native Ras farnesyltransferase heterodimer (αβ) and a heterodimer with a truncated α subunit (α′β) were overproduced at a high level and in a soluble form inEscherichia coli.The α, α′, and β subunits were synthesized from individual plasmid vectors under the control of bacteriophage T7 promoters. Although each subunit could be expressed at a high level by itself, when either the α or α′ and the β plasmid were present in cells at the same time, the α and α′ subunits were preferentially expressed to such a degree that little or none of the β subunit accumulated. A satisfactory balance between both combinations of subunits (αβ and α′β) was achieved by making incremental adjustments in the copy number of the β-encoding plasmid. As the copy number of the β plasmid increased, so did the ratio of β:α or β:α′, but there was little difference in the total amount of recombinant protein (α + β or α′ + β) that was produced. This may be a generally useful method for balancing the production of two recombinant polypeptides inE. coli.A noteworthy advantage of this approach is that it can be undertaken without first determining the cause of the imbalance.