High-throughput Purification and Quality Assurance of Arabidopsis thaliana Proteins for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics

The Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics (CESG) has established procedures for the purification of Arabidopsis proteins in a high-throughput mode. Recombinant proteins were fused with (His)(6)-MBP tags at their N-terminus and expressed in Escherichia coli. Using an automated AKTApurifier system, fusion proteins were initially purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). After cleavage of (His)(6)-MBP tags by TEV protease, (His)(6)-MBP tags were separated from target proteins by a subtractive 2nd IMAC. As a part of quality assurance, all purified proteins were subjected to MALDI-TOF and ESI mass spectrometry to confirm target identity and integrity, and determine incorporation of seleno-methionine (SeMet) and (15)N and (13)C isotopes. The protocols have been used successfully to provide high quality proteins that are suitable for structural studies by X-ray crystallography and NMR.