Cell-free translation in lysates from Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) cells

A cell-free translocation system using extracts of cultured insect cells to yield functional membrane proteins

Cell-free protein synthesis is a powerful method to explore the structure and function of membrane proteins and to analyze the targeting and translocation of proteins across the ER membrane. Developing a cell-free system based on cultured cells for the synthesis of membrane proteins could provide a highly reproducible alternative to the use of tissues from living animals. We isolated Sf21 microsomes from cultured insect cells by a simplified isolation procedure and evaluated the performance of the translocation system in combination with a cell-free translation system originating from the same source. The isolated microsomes contained the basic translocation machinery for polytopic membrane proteins including SRP-dependent targeting components, translocation channel (translocon)-dependent translocation, and the apparatus for signal peptide cleavage and N-linked glycosylation. A transporter protein synthesized with the cell-free system could be functionally reconstituted into a lipid bilayer. In addition, single and double labeling with non-natural amino acids could be achieved at both the lumen side and the cytosolic side in this system. Moreover, tail-anchored proteins, which are post-translationally integrated by the guided entry of tail-anchored proteins (GET) machinery, were inserted correctly into the microsomes. These results showed that the newly developed cell-free translocation system derived from cultured insect cells is a practical tool for the biogenesis of properly folded polytopic membrane proteins as well as tail-anchored proteins.

Rapid screening of quorum-sensing signal N-acyl homoserine lactones by an in vitro cell-free assay

A simple, sensitive, and rapid cell-free assay system was developed for detection of N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) autoinducers involved in bacterial quorum sensing (QS). The present approach improves upon previous whole-cell biosensor-based approaches in its utilization of a cell-free assay approach to conduct bioassays. The cell-free assay was derived from the AHL biosensor bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens NTL4(pCF218)(pCF372), allowing the expression of beta-galactosidase upon addition of exogenous AHLs. We have shown that beta-galactosidase expression is possible in cell-free solution [lysate from Agrobacterium tumefaciens NTL4(pCF218)(pCF372) culture]. Assay detection limits with the use of chromogenic substrate X-Gal (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside) ranged from approximately 100 nM to 300 nM depending on the specific AHL. Replacement (of X-Gal) with the luminescent substrate Beta-Glo increased sensitivity to AHLs by 10-fold. A major advantage of the cell-free assay system is elimination of time-consuming steps for biosensor cell culture conditioning, which are required prior to whole-cell bioassays. This significantly reduced assay times from greater than 24 h to less than 3 h, while maintaining high sensitivity. Assay lysate may be prepared in bulk and stored (-80 degrees C) over 6 months for future use. Finally, the present protocol may be adapted for use with other biosensor strains and be used in high-throughput AHL screening of bacteria or metagenomic libraries.