Bacterial expression of biologically active recombinant musarmin 1 from bulbs of Muscari armeniacum L. and Miller

Anti-Human Endoglin (hCD105) Immunotoxin-Containing Recombinant Single Chain Ribosome-Inactivating Protein Musarmin 1

Endoglin (CD105) is an accessory component of the TGF-β receptor complex, which is expressed in a number of tissues and over-expressed in the endothelial cells of tumor neovasculature. Targeting endoglin with immunotoxins containing type 2 ribosome-inactivating proteins has proved an effective tool to reduce blood supply to B16 mice tumor xenografts. We prepared anti-endoglin immunotoxin (IT)-containing recombinant musarmin 1 (single chain ribosome-inactivating proteins) linked to the mouse anti-human CD105 44G4 mouse monoclonal antibody via N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP). The immunotoxin specifically killed L929 fibroblast mouse cells transfected with the short form of human endoglin with IC50 values in the range of 5 × 10(-10) to 10(-9) M.

The Streptomyces coelicolor genome encodes a type I ribosome-inactivating protein

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are cytotoxic N-glycosidases identified in numerous plants, but also constitute a subunit of the bacterial Shiga toxin. Classification of plant RIPs is based on the absence (type I) or presence (type II) of an additional lectin module. In Shiga toxin, sugar binding is mediated by a distinct RIP-associated homopentamer. In the genome of two actinomycetes, we identified RIP-like proteins that resemble plant type I RIPs rather than the RIP subunit (StxA) of Shiga toxin. Some representatives of β- and γ-proteobacteria also contain genes encoding RIP-like proteins, but these are homologous to StxA. Here, we describe the isolation and initial characterization of the RIP-like gene product SCO7092 (RIPsc) from the Gram-positive soil bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor. The ripsc gene was expressed in Escherichia coli as a recombinant protein of about 30 kDa, and displayed the characteristic N-glycosidase activity causing specific rRNA depurination. In Streptomyces lividans and E. coli, RIPsc overproduction resulted in a dramatic decrease in the growth rate. In addition, intracellular production was deleterious for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, when applied externally to microbial cells, purified RIPsc did not display antibacterial or antifungal activity, suggesting that it cannot enter these cells. In a cell-free system, however, purified S. coelicolor RIPsc protein displayed strong inhibitory activity towards protein translation.