Monoclonal antibodies assisting refolding of firefly luciferase

The reactivation efficiency in the refolding of denatured luciferase in the presence and the absence of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has been studied. Luciferase could be partially reactivated when the protein was denatured in high concentrations of guanidium chloride (GdmCl; >4.5 M) and the refolding was carried out in very low protein concentrations. The refolding yield was, however, significantly lower when it was performed on luciferase that had been denatured with lower concentrations of GdmCl. The efficiency of refolding decreases when the formation of aggregates increases. Three of the five luciferase mAbs tested (4G3, N2E3, S2G10) dramatically increased the yield of reactivation and simultaneously eliminated the formation of aggregates. It is proposed that these mAbs assisted the refolding of luciferase by binding to the exposed hydrophobic surface of the refolding intermediate, thus preventing it from aggregating. The epitopes interacting with these refolding-assisting mAbs are all located in the A-subdomain of the N-terminal region of luciferase. These results have also shed light on the structural features of the intermediate and its interface involved in protein aggregate formation, contributing to the understanding of the protein folding mechanism.