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Fusco F, Pires MC, Lopes APY, Alves VDS, Gonçalves VM. Influence of the mRNA initial region on protein production: a case study using recombinant detoxified pneumolysin as a model. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2024; 11:1304965. [PMID: 38260740 PMCID: PMC10800503 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1304965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Recombinant proteins are of great importance in modern society, mostly as biopharmaceutical products. However, challenging and complex processes with low production yield are major drawbacks. Normally, the optimization to overcome these obstacles is focused on bioreactor and purification processes, and the biomolecular aspects are neglected, seen as less important. In this work, we present how the 5' mRNA secondary structure region can be relevant for translation and, therefore, protein production. For this, Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) clones, producing recombinant detoxified pneumolysin (PdT) with and without the N-terminal His-tag, were cultivated in 10-L bioreactors. Another version of the pdt gene (version 2) with synonymous changes in the 5'-end nucleotide sequence was also obtained. Protein production, plasmid stability, carbon sources, and acetic acid were quantified during the cultures. Furthermore, in silico mRNA analyses were performed using TIsigner and RNAfold. The results showed that the His-tag presence at the N-terminus generated a minimum 1.5-fold increase in target protein synthesis, which was explained by the in silico mRNA analyses that returned an mRNA secondary structure easier to translate and, therefore, higher protein production than without the His-tag. The pdt gene version 2 showed lower 5' mRNA opening energy than version 1, allowing higher PdT production even without a tag. This work reveals that simple mRNA analyses during heterologous gene design and production steps can help reach high-recombinant protein titers in a shorter time than using only traditional bioprocess optimization strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe Fusco
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Butantan Institute, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Interunits Graduate Program in Biotechnology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Manuella Cazelato Pires
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Butantan Institute, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Interunits Graduate Program in Biotechnology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Vítor dos Santos Alves
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Butantan Institute, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Interunits Graduate Program in Biotechnology, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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2
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Rodrigues Rodrigues R, Freitas Motta J, Alves Ferreira MR, Moreira Júnior C, Ferreira Alves ML, Costa AV, Andrade Bilhalva M, Amaral Donassolo R, Cancela Galvão C, Silva Martins FM, Masiero Salvarani F, Rochedo Conceição F. Immunization of sheep with a recombinant vaccine containing immunogenic nontoxic domains of Clostridium perfringens alpha and beta toxins. Microb Pathog 2023; 182:106269. [PMID: 37516212 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens (types A and C) can cause several diseases by secreting alpha (CPA) and beta (CPB) exotoxins in the gastrointestinal tract. Although vaccination is the main measure of immunization against C. perfringens, available vaccines have limitations in terms of productivity and safety. Thus, recombinant vaccines are an important, more effective, practical, and safer strategy in the immunization of animals. In this study, we evaluated the immunization of sheep with recombinant Escherichia coli bacterins expressing CPA and CPB complete proteins (co-administered), the immunogenic nontoxic domains rCPA-C247-370 and rCPB-C143-311 co-administered or fused as a bivalent chimera (rCPBcAc). For this, in silico analysis was performed to design rCPBcAc, considering the stability of the mRNA (-278.80 kcal/mol), the degree of antigenicity (0.7557), the epitopes of the B cell ligand, and different physicochemical characteristics. All proteins were expressed in vitro. In vivo, animals vaccinated with the co-administered antigens rCPA + rCPB and rCPA-C+ rCPB-C (200 μg each) had mean CPA and CPB neutralizing antitoxin titers of 4, 10, 4.8, and 14.4 IU/mL, respectively, while those vaccinated with 200 μg of rCPBcAc chimera (approximately 100 μg of each antigen) had titers of <4 and 12 IU/mL of CPA and CPB antitoxins, respectively, 56 days after the administration of the first dose. In addition, the chimera was considered to be immunogenic for inducing antitoxin titers using the half dose. In this study, we presented a new recombinant antigen potentially applicable for vaccines against the CPA and CPB toxins for preventing diseases caused by Clostridium perfringens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Rodrigues Rodrigues
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
| | - Jaqueline Freitas Motta
- Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | | | - Clóvis Moreira Júnior
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Mariliana Luiza Ferreira Alves
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Instituto Federal Sul-rio-grandense, IFSul, Campus Pelotas, RS, Brazil
| | - Ana Vitória Costa
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Miguel Andrade Bilhalva
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Rafael Amaral Donassolo
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Cleideanny Cancela Galvão
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | | | | | - Fabricio Rochedo Conceição
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
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3
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Recent progress in metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the production of C4, C5, and C6 chemicals. KOREAN J CHEM ENG 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11814-021-0788-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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4
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Rodrigues RR, Alves Ferreira MR, Donassolo RA, Ferreira Alves ML, Motta JF, Junior CM, Salvarani FM, Moreira AN, Conceicao FR. Evaluation of the expression and immunogenicity of four versions of recombinant Clostridium perfringens beta toxin designed by bioinformatics tools. Anaerobe 2021; 69:102326. [PMID: 33508438 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2021.102326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 01/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Beta toxins (CPB) produced by Clostridium perfringens type B and C cause various diseases in animals, and the use of toxoids is an important prophylactic measure against such diseases. Promising recombinant toxoids have been developed recently. However, both soluble and insoluble proteins expressed in Escherichia coli can interfere with the production and immunogenicity of these antigens. In this context, bioinformatics tools have been used to design new versions of the beta toxin, and levels of expression and solubility were evaluated in different strains of E. coli. The immunogenicity in sheep was assessed using the molecule with the greatest potential that was selected on analyzing these results. In silico analyzes, greater mRNA stability (-169.70 kcal/mol), solubility (-0.755), and better tertiary structure (-0.12) were shown by rCPB-C. None of the strains of E. coli expressed rFH8-CPB, but a high level of expression and solubility was shown by rCPB-C. Higher levels of total and neutralizing anti-CPB antibodies were observed in sheep inoculated with bacterins containing rCPB-C. Thus, this study suggests that due to higher productivity of rCPB-C in E. coli and immunogenicity, it is considered as the most promising molecule for the production of a recombinant vaccine against diseases caused by the beta toxin produced by C. perfringens type B and C.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rafael Amaral Donassolo
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico/Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil
| | - Mariliana Luiza Ferreira Alves
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico/Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil; Instituto Federal Sul-rio-grandense, IFSul, Campus Pelotas, RS, Brazil
| | - Jaqueline Freitas Motta
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico/Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil
| | - Clovis Moreira Junior
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico/Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil
| | - Felipe Masiero Salvarani
- Instituto de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Do Pará, Castanhal, CEP 68740-970, Pará, Brazil
| | - Angela Nunes Moreira
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico/Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil
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5
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Experimental Evaluation of In Silico Selected Signal Peptides for Secretory Expression of Erwinia Asparaginase in Escherichia coli. Int J Pept Res Ther 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10989-019-09961-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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6
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Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the production of glutaric acid, a C5 dicarboxylic acid platform chemical. Metab Eng 2019; 51:99-109. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2018.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Revised: 08/08/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
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7
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Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for fermentative production of chemicals in biorefinery. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2018; 102:3915-3937. [DOI: 10.1007/s00253-018-8896-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2017] [Revised: 02/23/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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8
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Yim SS, Choi JW, Lee SH, Jeon EJ, Chung WJ, Jeong KJ. Engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for Consolidated Conversion of Hemicellulosic Biomass into Xylonic Acid. Biotechnol J 2017; 12. [PMID: 28799725 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201700040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2017] [Revised: 08/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Xylonic acid is a promising platform chemical with various applications in the fields of food, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. However, in the current process, xylonic acid is mainly produced by the conversion of xylose, whose preparation requires substantial cost and time. Here, Corynebacterium glutamicum is engineered for the consolidated bioconversion of hemicellulosic biomass (xylan) into xylonic acid in a single cultivation. First, for the efficient conversion of xylose to xylonic acid, xylose dehydrogenase (Xdh) and xylonolactonase (XylC) from Caulobacter crescentus are evaluated together with a previously optimized xylose transporter module (XylE of Escherichia coli), and cells expressing xdh and xylE genes with an optimized expression system can produce xylonic acid from xylose with 100% conversion yield. Next, to directly process xylan as a substrate, an engineered xylan-degrading module is introduced, in which two xylan-degrading enzymes (endoxylanase and xylosidase) are secreted into the culture medium. The engineered C. glutamicum successfully produce 6.23 g L-1 of xylonic acid from 20 g L-1 of xylan. This is the first report on xylonic acid production in C. glutamicum and this robust system will contribute to development of an industrially relevant platform for production of xylonic acid from raw biomass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung Sun Yim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, BK21 Plus Program, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141,, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae Woong Choi
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, BK21 Plus Program, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141,, Republic of Korea
| | - Se Hwa Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, BK21 Plus Program, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141,, Republic of Korea
| | - Eun Jung Jeon
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, BK21 Plus Program, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141,, Republic of Korea
| | - Wook-Jin Chung
- Energy and Environment Fusion Technology Center (E2FTC), Myongji University, Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea
| | - Ki Jun Jeong
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, BK21 Plus Program, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141,, Republic of Korea.,Institute for the BioCentury, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141,, Republic of Korea
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9
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Shin JH, Park SH, Oh YH, Choi JW, Lee MH, Cho JS, Jeong KJ, Joo JC, Yu J, Park SJ, Lee SY. Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for enhanced production of 5-aminovaleric acid. Microb Cell Fact 2016; 15:174. [PMID: 27717386 PMCID: PMC5054628 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-016-0566-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2016] [Accepted: 09/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Background 5-Aminovaleric acid (5AVA) is an important five-carbon platform chemical that can be used for the synthesis of polymers and other chemicals of industrial interest. Enzymatic conversion of l-lysine to 5AVA has been achieved by employing lysine 2-monooxygenase encoded by the davB gene and 5-aminovaleramidase encoded by the davA gene. Additionally, a recombinant Escherichia coli strain expressing the davB and davA genes has been developed for bioconversion of l-lysine to 5AVA. To use glucose and xylose derived from lignocellulosic biomass as substrates, rather than l-lysine as a substrate, we previously examined direct fermentative production of 5AVA from glucose by metabolically engineered E. coli strains. However, the yield and productivity of 5AVA achieved by recombinant E. coli strains remain very low. Thus, Corynebacterium glutamicum, a highly efficient l-lysine producing microorganism, should be useful in the development of direct fermentative production of 5AVA using l-lysine as a precursor for 5AVA. Here, we report the development of metabolically engineered C. glutamicum strains for enhanced fermentative production of 5AVA from glucose. Results Various expression vectors containing different promoters and origins of replication were examined for optimal expression of Pseudomonas putida davB and davA genes encoding lysine 2-monooxygenase and delta-aminovaleramidase, respectively. Among them, expression of the C. glutamicum codon-optimized davA gene fused with His6-Tag at its N-Terminal and the davB gene as an operon under a strong synthetic H36 promoter (plasmid p36davAB3) in C. glutamicum enabled the most efficient production of 5AVA. Flask culture and fed-batch culture of this strain produced 6.9 and 19.7 g/L (together with 11.9 g/L glutaric acid as major byproduct) of 5AVA, respectively. Homology modeling suggested that endogenous gamma-aminobutyrate aminotransferase encoded by the gabT gene might be responsible for the conversion of 5AVA to glutaric acid in recombinant C. glutamicum. Fed-batch culture of a C. glutamicum gabT mutant-harboring p36davAB3 produced 33.1 g/L 5AVA with much reduced (2.0 g/L) production of glutaric acid. Conclusions Corynebacterium glutamicum was successfully engineered to produce 5AVA from glucose by optimizing the expression of two key enzymes, lysine 2-monooxygenase and delta-aminovaleramidase. In addition, production of glutaric acid, a major byproduct, was significantly reduced by employing C. glutamicum gabT mutant as a host strain. The metabolically engineered C. glutamicum strains developed in this study should be useful for enhanced fermentative production of the novel C5 platform chemical 5AVA from renewable resources. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-016-0566-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jae Ho Shin
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Plus program), Institute for the BioCentury, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.,Metabolic Engineering National Research Laboratory and BioProcess Engineering Research Center, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Seok Hyun Park
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Plus program), Institute for the BioCentury, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.,Metabolic Engineering National Research Laboratory and BioProcess Engineering Research Center, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Young Hoon Oh
- Division of Convergence Chemistry, Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, P.O. Box 107, 141 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34602, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae Woong Choi
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Plus program), Institute for the BioCentury, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Moon Hee Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Plus program), Institute for the BioCentury, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.,Metabolic Engineering National Research Laboratory and BioProcess Engineering Research Center, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae Sung Cho
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Plus program), Institute for the BioCentury, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.,Metabolic Engineering National Research Laboratory and BioProcess Engineering Research Center, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Ki Jun Jeong
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Plus program), Institute for the BioCentury, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeong Chan Joo
- Division of Convergence Chemistry, Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, P.O. Box 107, 141 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34602, Republic of Korea
| | - James Yu
- Metabolic Engineering National Research Laboratory and BioProcess Engineering Research Center, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Si Jae Park
- Department of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Myongji University, 116 Myongji-ro, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggido, 17058, Republic of Korea.
| | - Sang Yup Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Plus program), Institute for the BioCentury, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea. .,Metabolic Engineering National Research Laboratory and BioProcess Engineering Research Center, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea. .,Bioinformatics Research Center, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
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10
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Šimčíková M, Alves CPA, Brito L, Prather KLJ, Prazeres DMF, Monteiro GA. Improvement of DNA minicircle production by optimization of the secondary structure of the 5′-UTR of ParA resolvase. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2016; 100:6725-6737. [DOI: 10.1007/s00253-016-7565-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2016] [Revised: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 04/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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11
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Karimi Z, Nezafat N, Negahdaripour M, Berenjian A, Hemmati S, Ghasemi Y. The effect of rare codons following the ATG start codon on expression of human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor in Escherichia coli. Protein Expr Purif 2015; 114:108-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2015.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2015] [Revised: 05/27/2015] [Accepted: 05/29/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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12
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Protein engineering by random mutagenesis and structure-guided consensus of Geobacillus stearothermophilus Lipase T6 for enhanced stability in methanol. Appl Environ Microbiol 2013; 80:1515-27. [PMID: 24362426 DOI: 10.1128/aem.03371-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The abilities of enzymes to catalyze reactions in nonnatural environments of organic solvents have opened new opportunities for enzyme-based industrial processes. However, the main drawback of such processes is that most enzymes have a limited stability in polar organic solvents. In this study, we employed protein engineering methods to generate a lipase for enhanced stability in methanol, which is important for biodiesel production. Two protein engineering approaches, random mutagenesis (error-prone PCR) and structure-guided consensus, were applied in parallel on an unexplored lipase gene from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T6. A high-throughput colorimetric screening assay was used to evaluate lipase activity after an incubation period in high methanol concentrations. Both protein engineering approaches were successful in producing variants with elevated half-life values in 70% methanol. The best variant of the random mutagenesis library, Q185L, exhibited 23-fold-improved stability, yet its methanolysis activity was decreased by one-half compared to the wild type. The best variant from the consensus library, H86Y/A269T, exhibited 66-fold-improved stability in methanol along with elevated thermostability (+4.3°C) and a 2-fold-higher fatty acid methyl ester yield from soybean oil. Based on in silico modeling, we suggest that the Q185L substitution facilitates a closed lid conformation that limits access for both the methanol and substrate excess into the active site. The enhanced stability of H86Y/A269T was a result of formation of new hydrogen bonds. These improved characteristics make this variant a potential biocatalyst for biodiesel production.
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Design and optimization of short DNA sequences that can be used as 5' fusion partners for high-level expression of heterologous genes in Escherichia coli. Appl Environ Microbiol 2013; 79:6655-64. [PMID: 23974137 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01676-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The 5' terminal nucleotide sequence of a gene is often a bottleneck in recombinant protein production. The ifn-α2bS gene is poorly expressed in Escherichia coli unless a translocation signal sequence (pelB) is fused to the 5' end of the gene. A combined in silico and in vivo analysis reported here further indicates that the ifn-α2bS 5' coding sequence is suboptimal for efficient gene expression. ifn-α2bS therefore presents a suitable model gene for describing properties of 5' fusions promoting expression. We show that short DNA sequences corresponding to the 5' end of the highly expressed celB gene, whose protein product is cytosolic, can functionally replace pelB as a 5' fusion partner for efficient ifn-α2bS expression. celB fusions of various lengths (corresponding to a minimum of 8 codons) led to more than 7- and 60-fold stimulation of expression at the transcript and protein levels, respectively. Moreover, the presence of a celB-based fusion partner was found to moderately reduce the decay rate of the corresponding transcript. The 5' fusions thus appear to act by enhancing translation, and bound ribosomes may accordingly contribute to increased mRNA stability and reduced mRNA decay. However, other effects, such as altered protein stability, cannot be excluded. We also developed an experimental protocol that enabled us to identify improved variants of the celB fusion, and one of these (celBD11) could be used to additionally increase ifn-α2bS expression more than 4-fold at the protein level. Interestingly, celBD11 also stimulated greater protein production of three other medically important human genes than the wild-type celB fragment.
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Tsai WL, Forbes JG, Wang K. Engineering of an elastic scaffolding polyprotein based on an SH3-binding intrinsically disordered titin PEVK module. Protein Expr Purif 2012; 85:187-99. [PMID: 22910563 PMCID: PMC3463739 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2012.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2012] [Revised: 07/24/2012] [Accepted: 08/03/2012] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Titin is a large elastic protein found in muscle that maintains the elasticity and structural integrity of the sarcomere. The PEVK region of titin is intrinsically disordered, highly elastic and serves as a hub to bind signaling proteins. Systematic investigation of the structure and affinity profile of the PEVK region will provide important information about the functions of titin. Since PEVK is highly heterogeneous due to extensive differential splicing from more than one hundred exons, we engineered and expressed polyproteins that consist of a defined number of identical single exon modules. These customized polyproteins reduce heterogeneity, amplify interactions of less dominant modules, and most importantly, provide tags for atomic force microscopy and allow more readily interpretable data from single-molecule techniques. Expression and purification of recombinant polyprotein with repeat regions presented many technical challenges: recombination events in tandem repeats of identical DNA sequences exacerbated by high GC content, toxicity of polymer plasmid and expressed protein to the bacteria; early truncation of proteins expressed with different numbers of modules; and extreme sensitivity to proteolysis. We have investigated a number of in vitro and in vivo bacterial and yeast expression systems, as well as baculoviral systems as potential solutions to these problems. We successfully expressed and purified in gram quantities a polyprotein derived from human titin exon 172 using Pichia pastoris yeast. This study provides valuable insights into the technical challenges regarding the engineering and purification of a tandem repeat sequence of an intrinsically disordered biopolymer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanxia Li Tsai
- Muscle Proteomics and Nanotechnology Section, Laboratory of Muscle Biology, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892-8024, USA.
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Tuller T, Veksler-Lublinsky I, Gazit N, Kupiec M, Ruppin E, Ziv-Ukelson M. Composite effects of gene determinants on the translation speed and density of ribosomes. Genome Biol 2011; 12:R110. [PMID: 22050731 PMCID: PMC3334596 DOI: 10.1186/gb-2011-12-11-r110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2011] [Revised: 09/10/2011] [Accepted: 11/03/2011] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Translation is a central process of life, and its regulation is crucial for cell growth. In this article, focusing on two model organisms, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we study how three major local features of a gene's coding sequence (its adaptation to the tRNA pool, its amino acid charge, and its mRNA folding energy) affect its translation elongation. Results We find that each of these three different features has a non-negligible distinct correlation with the speed of translation elongation. In addition, each of these features might contribute independently to slowing down ribosomal speed at the beginning of genes, which was suggested in previous studies to improve ribosomal allocation and the cost of translation, and to decrease ribosomal jamming. Remarkably, a model of ribosomal translation based on these three basic features highly correlated with the genomic profile of ribosomal density. The robustness to transcription errors in terms of the values of these features is higher at the beginnings of genes, suggesting that this region is important for translation. Conclusions The reported results support the conjecture that translation elongation speed is affected by the three coding sequence determinants mentioned above, and not only by adaptation to the tRNA pool; thus, evolution shapes all these determinants along the coding sequences and across genes to improve the organism's translation efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamir Tuller
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
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Enhancing the recombinant protein expression of halohydrin dehalogenase HheA in Escherichia coli by applying a codon optimization strategy. Enzyme Microb Technol 2011; 49:395-401. [DOI: 10.1016/j.enzmictec.2011.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2011] [Revised: 06/20/2011] [Accepted: 06/25/2011] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Szeker K, Niemitalo O, Casteleijn MG, Juffer AH, Neubauer P. High-temperature cultivation and 5' mRNA optimization are key factors for the efficient overexpression of thermostable Deinococcus geothermalis purine nucleoside phosphorylase in Escherichia coli. J Biotechnol 2011; 156:268-74. [PMID: 21871934 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2011.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2011] [Revised: 08/05/2011] [Accepted: 08/10/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Overexpression of genes from thermophiles in Escherichia coli is an attractive approach towards the large-scale production of thermostable biocatalysts. However, various factors can challenge efficient heterologous protein expression--one example is the formation of stable 5' mRNA secondary structures that can impede an efficient translation initiation. In this work, we describe the expression optimization of purine nucleoside phosphorylase from the thermophilic microbe Deinococcus geothermalis in E. coli. Poor expression levels caused by stable secondary 5' mRNA structure formation were addressed by two different approaches: (i) increasing the cultivation temperature above the range used typically for recombinant protein expression and (ii) optimizing the 5' mRNA sequence for reduced secondary structures in the translation initiation region. The increase of the cultivation temperature from 30°C to 42°C allowed a more than 10-fold increase of activity per cell and optimizing the 5' mRNA gene sequence further increased the activity per cell 1.7-fold at 42°C. Thus, the combination of high-temperature cultivation and 5' sequence optimization is described as an effective approach to overcome poor expression levels resulting from stable secondary 5' mRNA structure formation. We suggest that this method is especially suitable for improving the expression of proteins derived from thermophiles in E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen Szeker
- Department of Biotechnology, Technische Universität Berlin, Ackerstrasse 71-76, Berlin, Germany.
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18
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Efficient overexpression and purification of active full-length human transcription factor Yin Yang 1 in Escherichia coli. Protein Expr Purif 2011; 77:198-206. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2011.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2010] [Revised: 01/28/2011] [Accepted: 01/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Goltermann L, Borch Jensen M, Bentin T. Tuning protein expression using synonymous codon libraries targeted to the 5′ mRNA coding region. Protein Eng Des Sel 2010; 24:123-9. [DOI: 10.1093/protein/gzq086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
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Francis DM, Page R. Strategies to optimize protein expression in E. coli. CURRENT PROTOCOLS IN PROTEIN SCIENCE 2010; Chapter 5:5.24.1-5.24.29. [PMID: 20814932 PMCID: PMC7162232 DOI: 10.1002/0471140864.ps0524s61] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Recombinant protein expression in Escherichia coli (E. coli) is simple, fast, inexpensive, and robust, with the expressed protein comprising up to 50 percent of the total cellular protein. However, it also has disadvantages. For example, the rapidity of bacterial protein expression often results in unfolded/misfolded proteins, especially for heterologous proteins that require longer times and/or molecular chaperones to fold correctly. In addition, the highly reductive environment of the bacterial cytosol and the inability of E. coli to perform several eukaryotic post-translational modifications results in the insoluble expression of proteins that require these modifications for folding and activity. Fortunately, multiple, novel reagents and techniques have been developed that allow for the efficient, soluble production of a diverse range of heterologous proteins in E. coli. This overview describes variables at each stage of a protein expression experiment that can influence solubility and offers a summary of strategies used to optimize soluble expression in E. coli.
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Kim KH, Yang JK, Waldo GS, Terwilliger TC, Suh SW. From no expression to high-level soluble expression in Escherichia coli by screening a library of the target proteins with randomized N-termini. Methods Mol Biol 2008; 426:187-195. [PMID: 18542864 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-60327-058-8_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
For structural studies by x-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance it is important for the target protein to be available in large quantity and high purity. Escherichia coli expression systems remain the most versatile and convenient means to produce a large quantity of recombinant proteins. Unfortunately, some proteins fail to be expressed in E. coli or are expressed in an insoluble form. To overcome the difficulty of no expression or expression at a very low level, a simple and efficient approach of screening a library of variants of a target protein with randomized N-termini was devised. In this method, a few N-terminal residues are randomized by designing a mixture of oligonucleotides for the forward PCR primer and we fuse the library in front of green fluorescent protein, which serves as a reporter for the target protein expression level and folding yield. In favorable cases this approach can result in high-level soluble expression of recombinant proteins in E. coli. This chapter describes the results of a test of this approach with a bacterial protein (the HI0952 gene product) that is not well expressed in E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyoung Hoon Kim
- Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
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23
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Care S, Bignon C, Pelissier MC, Blanc E, Canard B, Coutard B. The translation of recombinant proteins in E. coli can be improved by in silico generating and screening random libraries of a -70/+96 mRNA region with respect to the translation initiation codon. Nucleic Acids Res 2007; 36:e6. [PMID: 18084029 PMCID: PMC2248745 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkm1097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Recombinant protein translation in Escherichia coli may be limited by stable (i.e. low free energy) secondary structures in the mRNA translation initiation region. To circumvent this issue, we have set-up a computer tool called ‘ExEnSo’ (Expression Enhancer Software) that generates a random library of 8192 sequences, calculates the free energy of secondary structures of each sequence in the −70/+96 region (base 1 is the translation initiation codon), and then selects the sequence having the highest free energy. The software uses this ‘optimized’ sequence to create a 5′ primer that can be used in PCR experiments to amplify the coding sequence of interest prior to sub-cloning into a prokaryotic expression vector. In this article, we report how ExEnSo was set-up and the results obtained with nine coding sequences with low expression levels in E. coli. The free energy of the −70/+96 region of all these coding sequences was increased compared to the non-optimized sequences. Moreover, the protein expression of eight out of nine of these coding sequences was increased in E. coli, indicating a good correlation between in silico and in vivo results. ExEnSo is available as a free online tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Care
- AFMB UMR6098 CNRS/Université Aix-Marseille I & II, Case 932, 163 Avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France
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Block H, Kubicek J, Labahn J, Roth U, Schäfer F. Production and comprehensive quality control of recombinant human Interleukin-1beta: a case study for a process development strategy. Protein Expr Purif 2007; 57:244-54. [PMID: 18053740 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2007.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2007] [Revised: 09/17/2007] [Accepted: 09/26/2007] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We describe an efficient strategy to produce high-quality proteins by using a single large IMAC chromatography column and enzymatic His-tag removal via the TAGZyme system in pilot scale. Numerous quality assays demonstrated a high purity of the final product, the human cytokine Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). The protein preparation was apparently free of host cell proteins, endotoxins, protease, and aggregates. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of IL-1beta was in full agreement with the natural mature form of IL-1beta. The homogeneity of the product was further shown by X-ray structure determination which confirmed the previously solved structure of the protein. We propose the applied workflow as a strategy for industrial production of protein-based biopharmaceuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Block
- QIAGEN GmbH, Qiagen Strasse 1, 40724 Hilden, Germany
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Park YS, Seo SW, Hwang S, Chu HS, Ahn JH, Kim TW, Kim DM, Jung GY. Design of 5'-untranslated region variants for tunable expression in Escherichia coli. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2007; 356:136-41. [PMID: 17349977 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.02.127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2007] [Accepted: 02/16/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Redesign or modification of the cellular physiology requires a quantitatively well-controlled expression system known as the "tunable expression." Although the modification of promoters demonstrates the great impact on the translation efficiency, it is difficult to detect the proper variants required for tunable expression. The 5'-untranslated region (UTR), however, can be an important target for tunable expressions because the ribosome binding affinity is directly modulated by the sequence variants of the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence and the AU-rich sequence, which are the ribosome binding sites and a SD-sequence-independent translation enhancer, respectively. This study developed a simple method to obtain numerous 5'-UTR variants and analyze their translation efficiency based on the PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis and the expressional PCR using coupled in vitro transcription/translation system derived from Escherichia coli and eGFP gene as a template. SD sequence variants (18) and AU-rich sequence variants (36), which have a wide range of relative expression levels ranging from 0.1 to 2.0, were obtained. The translation efficiency was affected by the ribosome binding affinity and its accessibility that is dependent on the secondary structure around the 5'-UTR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Young Seoub Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering, POSTECH, Hyoja-dong, Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea
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Huang X, Zhang XE, Zhou YF, Zhang ZP, Cass AEG. Directed evolution of the 5'-untranslated region of the phoA gene in Escherichia coli simultaneously yields a stronger promoter and a stronger Shine-Dalgarno sequence. Biotechnol J 2007; 1:1275-82. [PMID: 17109483 DOI: 10.1002/biot.200600091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Directed evolution has been widely applied for gene improvement through random mutagenesis of coding sequences. Through error-prone PCR both in the coding sequence and the regulatory sequence of E. coli alkaline phosphatase, the cellular enzyme activity has been efficiently enhanced. Sequence analysis revealed that the resultant mutant 34-B12, which showed a sevenfold increased enzyme activity at the cellular level, contains three mutations in the regulatory sequence and another three mutations in the coding sequence. Activity assays of the enzyme containing the corresponding amino acid substitutions proved that the amino acid mutations contribute only to a small portion to the increased cellular enzyme activity. So the mutations in the 5'-untranslated region were analyzed separately and combinationally. The results suggested that one mutation yielded a stronger promoter and the other two mutations both elevated the E. coli alkaline phosphatase expression at the translational level; moreover, a stronger Shine-Dalgarno sequence was generated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
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Arnau J, Lauritzen C, Pedersen J. Cloning strategy, production and purification of proteins with exopeptidase-cleavable His-tags. Nat Protoc 2006; 1:2326-33. [PMID: 17406475 DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2006.388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Here, we present a cloning strategy for the production of recombinant proteins tagged with a polyhistidine sequence that can be cleaved by the exopeptidase, DAPase. The method can be used with most commonly available vectors and results in the expression of a His-tag protein that can be purified in its native form regardless of its natural sequence. This approach takes advantage of the TAGZyme system for the removal of amino-terminal affinity tags. Tag removal is accomplished either with DAPase (a recombinant dipeptidyl peptidase) alone or in combination with two accessory enzymes, Qcyclase and pGAPase. The system has been used for the production of intracellular proteins in Escherichia coli and can be applied to other expression hosts for the production of secreted proteins or proteins that require post-translational modification. The production of human interleukin 1beta in E. coli is used as an example to illustrate this method. The complete protocol from initial PCR to the production of a detagged protein with its authentic N terminus can be performed within 5 days.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Arnau
- Unizyme Laboratories, Dr Neergaards vej 17, DK 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark.
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