Gene cloning and recombinant expression of a novel fungal immunomodulatory protein from Trametes versicolor

Homology-based cloning was used to obtain a new gene (named FIP-tvc) from the genomic DNA of the Chinese traditional medicinal mushroom Trametes versicolor. FIP-tvc is a member of the fungal immunomodulatory protein family, is composed of 336bp encoding 111 amino acids, and is highly homologous with other fungal immunomodulatory proteins. In addition, an expression system for FIP-tvc was constructed. The results indicated that recombinant protein FIP-tvc could be expressed in Escherichia coli and that about 20% of the expressed protein was in soluble form. Recombinant FIP-tvc was capable of agglutinating mouse and rat red blood cells. Furthermore, recombinant protein FIP-tvc could selectively enhance the expression of interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and lympotoxin (LT) in mouse spleen cells.