Relationship between Protein Expression Pattern and Host Metabolome Perturbation as Monitored by Two‐Dimensional NMR Spectroscopy

Identification of interaction partners using protein aggregation and NMR spectroscopy

The interaction among proteins is one of the most fundamental methods of information transfer in the living system. Many methods have been developed in order to identify the interaction pairs or groups either in vivo or in vitro. The in vitro pulldown/coprecipitation assay directly observes the protein that binds to the target. This method involves electrophoresis, which is a technique of a low resolution as well as a low throughput. As a better alternative, we wish to propose a new method that is based on the NMR spectroscopy. This method utilizes the aggregation of the target protein and the concomitant signal disappearance of the interacting partner. The aggregation is accomplished by the elastin-like polypeptide, which is fused to the target. If a protein binds to this supramolecular complex, its NMR signal then becomes too broadened in order to be observed, which is the basic phenomenon of the NMR spectroscopy. Thus, the protein that loses its signal is the one that binds to the target. A compound that interferes with these types of bindings among the proteins can be identified by observing the reappearance of the protein signals with the simultaneous disappearance of the signals of the compound. This technique will be applied in order to find an interaction pair in the information transfer pathway as well as a compound that disrupts it. This proposed method should be able to work with a mixture of proteins and provide a higher resolution in order to find the binding partner in a higher throughput fashion.

Recombinant expression of insoluble enzymes in Escherichia coli: a systematic review of experimental design and its manufacturing implications

Recombinant enzyme expression in Escherichia coli is one of the most popular methods to produce bulk concentrations of protein product. However, this method is often limited by the inadvertent formation of inclusion bodies. Our analysis systematically reviews literature from 2010 to 2021 and details the methods and strategies researchers have utilized for expression of difficult to express (DtE), industrially relevant recombinant enzymes in E. coli expression strains. Our review identifies an absence of a coherent strategy with disparate practices being used to promote solubility. We discuss the potential to approach recombinant expression systematically, with the aid of modern bioinformatics, modelling, and ‘omics’ based systems-level analysis techniques to provide a structured, holistic approach. Our analysis also identifies potential gaps in the methods used to report metadata in publications and the impact on the reproducibility and growth of the research in this field.