Mapping the yeast host cell response to recombinant membrane protein production: Relieving the biological bottlenecks

Progress in Ameliorating Beneficial Characteristics of Microbial Cellulases by Genetic Engineering Approaches for Cellulose Saccharification

Lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable and sustainable energy source. Cellulases are the enzymes that cleave β-1, 4-glycosidic linkages in cellulose to liberate sugars that can be fermented to ethanol, butanol, and other products. Low enzyme activity and yield, and thermostability are, however, some of the limitations posing hurdles in saccharification of lignocellulosic residues. Recent advancements in synthetic and systems biology have generated immense interest in metabolic and genetic engineering that has led to the development of sustainable technology for saccharification of lignocellulosics in the last couple of decades. There have been several attempts in applying genetic engineering in the production of a repertoire of cellulases at a low cost with a high biomass saccharification. A diverse range of cellulases are produced by different microbes, some of which are being engineered to evolve robust cellulases. This review summarizes various successful genetic engineering strategies employed for improving cellulase kinetics and cellulolytic efficiency.

Role for ribosome-associated complex and stress-seventy subfamily B (RAC-Ssb) in integral membrane protein translation

Targeting of most integral membrane proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum is controlled by the signal recognition particle, which recognizes a hydrophobic signal sequence near the protein N terminus. Proper folding of these proteins is monitored by the unfolded protein response and involves protein degradation pathways to ensure quality control. Here, we identify a new pathway for quality control of major facilitator superfamily transporters that occurs before the first transmembrane helix, the signal sequence recognized by the signal recognition particle, is made by the ribosome. Increased rates of translation elongation of the N-terminal sequence of these integral membrane proteins can divert the nascent protein chains to the ribosome-associated complex and stress-seventy subfamily B chaperones. We also show that quality control of integral membrane proteins by ribosome-associated complex-stress-seventy subfamily B couples translation rate to the unfolded protein response, which has implications for understanding mechanisms underlying human disease and protein production in biotechnology.

Molecular optimization of rabies virus glycoprotein expression in Pichia pastoris

In this work, different approaches were investigated to enhance the expression rabies virus glycoprotein (RABV-G) in the yeast Pichia pastoris; this membrane protein is responsible for the synthesis of rabies neutralizing antibodies. First, the impact of synonymous codon usage bias was examined and an optimized RABV-G gene was synthesized. Nevertheless, data showed that the secretion of the optimized RABV-G gene was not tremendously increased as compared with the non-optimized one. In addition, similar levels of RABV-G were obtained when α-factor mating factor from Saccharomyces cerevisiae or the acid phosphatase PHO1 was used as a secretion signal. Therefore, sequence optimization and secretion signal were not the major bottlenecks for high-level expression of RABV-G in P. pastoris. Unfolded protein response (UPR) was induced in clones containing high copy number of RABV-G expression cassette indicating that folding was the limiting step for RABV-G secretion. To circumvent this limitation, co-overexpression of five factors involved in oxidative protein folding was investigated. Among these factors only PDI1, ERO1 and GPX1 proved their benefit to enhance the expression. The highest expression level of RABV-G reached 1230 ng ml(-1). Competitive neutralizing assay confirmed that the recombinant protein was produced in the correct conformational form in this host.

Production of Protein Complexes in Non-methylotrophic and Methylotrophic Yeasts : Nonmethylotrophic and Methylotrophic Yeasts

Protein complexes can be produced in multimilligram quantities using nonmethylotrophic and methylotrophic yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Komagataella (Pichia) pastoris. Yeasts have distinct advantages as hosts for recombinant protein production owing to their cost efficiency, ease of cultivation and genetic manipulation, fast growth rates, capacity to introduce post-translational modifications, and high protein productivity (yield) of correctly folded protein products. Despite those advantages, yeasts have surprisingly lagged behind other eukaryotic hosts in their use for the production of multisubunit complexes. As our knowledge of the metabolic and genomic bottlenecks that yeast microorganisms face when overexpressing foreign proteins expands, new possibilities emerge for successfully engineering yeasts as superb expression hosts. In this chapter, we describe the current state of the art and discuss future possibilities for the development of yeast-based systems for the production of protein complexes.

Extracellular expression of alkaline phytase in Pichia pastoris: Influence of signal peptides, promoters and growth medium

Alkaline phytase isolated from pollen grains of Lilium longiflorum (LlALP) possesses unique catalytic and thermal stability properties that suggest it has the potential to be used as a feed supplement. However, substantial amounts of active enzymes are needed for animal feed studies and endogenous levels of LlALP in lily pollen are too low to provide the required amounts. Active rLlALP2 (coded by LlAlp2, one of two isoforms of alkaline phytase cDNA identified in lily pollen) has been successfully expressed in intracellular compartments of Pichia pastoris, however enzyme yields have been modest (25–30 mg/L) and purification of the enzyme has been challenging. Expression of foreign proteins to the extracellular medium of P. pastoris greatly simplifies protein purification because low levels of endogenous proteins are secreted by the yeast. In this paper, we first describe the generation of P. pastoris strains that will secrete rLlALP2 to the extracellular medium. Data presented here indicates that deletion of native signal peptides at the N- and C-termini of rLlALP2 enhanced α-mating factor (α-MF)-driven secretion by four-fold; chicken egg white lysozyme signal peptide was ineffective in the extracellular secretion of rLlALP2. Second, we describe our efforts to increase expression levels by employing a constitutive promoter from the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene (P_GAP) in place of the strong, tightly controlled promoter of alcohol oxidase 1 gene (P_AOX1). P_GAP enhanced the extracellular expression levels of rLlALP2 compared to P_AOX1. Finally, we report on the optimization of the culture medium to enhance yields of rLlALP2. The strength of P_GAP varies depending on the carbon source available for cell growth; secreted expression of rLlALP2 was highest when glycerol was the carbon source. The addition of histidine and Triton X-100 also enhanced extracellular expression. Taken together, the employment of P_GAP under optimized culture conditions resulted in approximately eight-fold (75–80 mg/L) increase in extracellular activity compared to P_AOXI (8–10 mg/L). The P. pastoris expression system can be employed as a source of active alkaline phytase for animal feed studies.

Recombinant protein subunit vaccine synthesis in microbes: a role for yeast?

Objectives

Recombinant protein subunit vaccines are formulated using protein antigens that have been synthesized in heterologous host cells. Several host cells are available for this purpose, ranging from Escherichia coli to mammalian cell lines. This article highlights the benefits of using yeast as the recombinant host.

Key findings

The yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris, have been used to optimize the functional yields of potential antigens for the development of subunit vaccines against a wide range of diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has also been used in the manufacture of 11 approved vaccines against hepatitis B virus and one against human papillomavirus; in both cases, the recombinant protein forms highly immunogenic virus-like particles.

Summary

Advances in our understanding of how a yeast cell responds to the metabolic load of producing recombinant proteins will allow us to identify host strains that have improved yield properties and enable the synthesis of more challenging antigens that cannot be produced in other systems. Yeasts therefore have the potential to become important host organisms for the production of recombinant antigens that can be used in the manufacture of subunit vaccines or in new vaccine development.

Overexpression of membrane proteins from higher eukaryotes in yeasts

Heterologous expression and characterisation of the membrane proteins of higher eukaryotes is of paramount interest in fundamental and applied research. Due to the rather simple and well-established methods for their genetic modification and cultivation, yeast cells are attractive host systems for recombinant protein production. This review provides an overview on the remarkable progress, and discusses pitfalls, in applying various yeast host strains for high-level expression of eukaryotic membrane proteins. In contrast to the cell lines of higher eukaryotes, yeasts permit efficient library screening methods. Modified yeasts are used as high-throughput screening tools for heterologous membrane protein functions or as benchmark for analysing drug-target relationships, e.g., by using yeasts as sensors. Furthermore, yeasts are powerful hosts for revealing interactions stabilising and/or activating membrane proteins. We also discuss the stress responses of yeasts upon heterologous expression of membrane proteins. Through co-expression of chaperones and/or optimising yeast cultivation and expression strategies, yield-optimised hosts have been created for membrane protein crystallography or efficient whole-cell production of fine chemicals.

Playing catch-up with Escherichia coli: using yeast to increase success rates in recombinant protein production experiments

Several host systems are available for the production of recombinant proteins, ranging from Escherichia coli to mammalian cell-lines. This article highlights the benefits of using yeast, especially for more challenging targets such as membrane proteins. On account of the wide range of molecular, genetic, and microbiological tools available, use of the well-studied model organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, provides many opportunities to optimize the functional yields of a target protein. Despite this wealth of resources, it is surprisingly under-used. In contrast, Pichia pastoris, a relative new-comer as a host organism, is already becoming a popular choice, particularly because of the ease with which high biomass (and hence recombinant protein) yields can be achieved. In the last few years, advances have been made in understanding how a yeast cell responds to the stress of producing a recombinant protein and how this information can be used to identify improved host strains in order to increase functional yields. Given these advantages, and their industrial importance in the production of biopharmaceuticals, I argue that S. cerevisiae and P. pastoris should be considered at an early stage in any serious strategy to produce proteins.

Towards improved membrane protein production in Pichia pastoris: general and specific transcriptional response to membrane protein overexpression

Membrane proteins are the largest group of human drug targets and are also used as biocatalysts. However, due to their complexity, efficient expression remains a bottleneck for high level production. In recent years, the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris has emerged as one of the most commonly used expression systems for membrane protein production. Here, we have analysed the transcriptomes of P. pastoris strains producing different classes of membrane proteins (mitochondrial, ER/Golgi and plasma membrane localized) to understand the cellular response and to identify targets to engineer P. pastoris towards an improved chassis for membrane protein production. Microarray experiments revealed varying transcriptional responses depending on the enzymatic activity, subcellular localization and physiological role of the membrane proteins. While an alternative oxidase evoked primarily a response within the mitochondria, the overexpression of transporters entering the secretory pathway had a wide effect on lipid metabolism and induced the upregulation of the UPR (unfolded protein response) transcription factor Hac1p. Coexpression of P. pastoris endogenous HAC1 increased the levels of ER-resident membrane proteins 1.5- to 2.1-fold. Subsequent transcriptome analysis of HAC1 coexpression revealed an upregulation of the folding machinery correlating with an expansion of the ER membrane capacity, thus boosting membrane protein production. Hence, our study has helped to elucidate the cellular response of P. pastoris to the expression of different classes of membrane proteins and led specifically to new insights into the effect of PpHac1p on membrane proteins entering the secretory pathway.

A yeast expression system for functional and pharmacological studies of the malaria parasite Ca²⁺/H⁺ antiporter

Background

Calcium (Ca²⁺) signalling is fundamental for host cell invasion, motility, in vivo synchronicity and sexual differentiation of the malaria parasite. Consequently, cytoplasmic free Ca²⁺ is tightly regulated through the co-ordinated action of primary and secondary Ca²⁺ transporters. Identifying selective inhibitors of Ca²⁺ transporters is key towards understanding their physiological role as well as having therapeutic potential, therefore screening systems to facilitate the search for potential inhibitors are a priority. Here, the methodology for the expression of a Calcium membrane transporter that can be scaled to high throughputs in yeast is presented.

Methods

The Plasmodium falciparum Ca²⁺/H⁺ antiporter (PfCHA) was expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its activity monitored by the bioluminescence from apoaequorin triggered by divalent cations, such as calcium, magnesium and manganese.

Results

Bioluminescence assays demonstrated that PfCHA effectively suppressed induced cytoplasmic peaks of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ in yeast mutants lacking the homologue yeast antiporter Vcx1p. In the scalable format of 96-well culture plates pharmacological assays with a cation antiporter inhibitor allowed the measurement of inhibition of the Ca²⁺ transport activity of PfCHA conveniently translated to the familiar concept of fractional inhibitory concentrations. Furthermore, the cytolocalization of this antiporter in the yeast cells showed that whilst PfCHA seems to locate to the mitochondrion of P. falciparum, in yeast PfCHA is sorted to the vacuole. This facilitates the real-time Ca²⁺-loading assays for further functional and pharmacological studies.

Discussion

The functional expression of PfCHA in S. cerevisiae and luminescence-based detection of cytoplasmic cations as presented here offer a tractable system that facilitates functional and pharmacological studies in a high-throughput format. PfCHA is shown to behave as a divalent cation/H⁺ antiporter susceptible to the effects of cation/H⁺ inhibitors such as KB-R7943. This type of gene expression systems should advance the efforts for the screening of potential inhibitors of this type of divalent cation transporters as part of the malaria drug discovery initiatives and for functional studies in general.

Conclusion

The expression and activity of the PfCHA detected in yeast by a bioluminescence assay that follows the levels of cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ as well as Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ lend itself to high-throughput and quantitative settings for pharmacological screening and functional studies.