1
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Wang J, Xu Y, Wang X, Li J, Hua Z. Mechanism of Mutation-Induced Effects on the Catalytic Function of TEV Protease: A Molecular Dynamics Study. Molecules 2024; 29:1071. [PMID: 38474583 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29051071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2024] [Revised: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Tobacco etch virus protease (TEVp) is wildly exploited for various biotechnological applications. These applications take advantage of TEVp's ability to cleave specific substrate sequences to study protein function and interactions. A major limitation of this enzyme is its relatively slow catalytic rate. In this study, MD simulations were conducted on TEV enzymes and known highly active mutants (eTEV and uTEV3) to explore the relationship between mutation, conformation, and catalytic function. The results suggest that mutations distant from the active site can influence the substrate-binding pocket through interaction networks. MD analysis of eTEV demonstrates that, by stabilizing the orientation of the substrate at the catalytic site, mutations that appropriately enlarge the substrate-binding pocket will be beneficial for Kcat, enhancing the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme. On the contrary, mutations in uTEV3 reduced the flexibility of the active pocket and increased the hydrogen bonding between the substrate and enzyme, resulting in higher affinity. At the same time, the MD simulation demonstrates that mutations outside of the active site residues could affect the dynamic movement of the binding pocket by altering residue networks and communication pathways, thereby having a profound impact on reactivity. These findings not only provide a molecular mechanistic explanation for the excellent mutants, but also serve as a guiding framework for rational computational design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingyao Wang
- School of Biopharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Yicong Xu
- School of Biopharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Xujian Wang
- School of Biopharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Jiahuang Li
- School of Biopharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
- Changzhou High-Tech Research Institute, Nanjing University, Changzhou 213164, China
| | - Zichun Hua
- School of Biopharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
- Changzhou High-Tech Research Institute, Nanjing University, Changzhou 213164, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Science, Nanjing 210023, China
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2
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Izumida K, Hara Y, Furukawa Y, Ishida K, Tabata K, Morita E. Purification of hepatitis C virus core protein in non-denaturing condition. J Virol Methods 2024; 323:114852. [PMID: 37979698 DOI: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2023.114852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/20/2023]
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major cause of chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Among its structural proteins, the HCV core protein has been implicated in liver disease. Understanding the role of HCV core proteins in viral diseases is crucial to elucidating disease mechanisms and identifying potential drug targets. However, purification challenges hinder the comprehensive elucidation of the structure and biochemical properties of HCV core proteins. In this study, we successfully solubilized bacterially expressed core protein using a high-salt and detergent-containing buffer and bypassed the denaturing-refolding process. Size-exclusion chromatography revealed three distinct peaks in the HCV-infected cell lysate, with the bacterially expressed soluble core protein corresponding to its second peak. Using a combination of affinity, size exclusion, and multi-modal chromatography purification techniques, we achieved a purity of > 95% for the core protein. Analytical ultracentrifugation revealed monomer formation in the solution. Far UV Circular dichroism spectroscopy identified 25.53% alpha helices and 20.26% beta sheets. These findings strongly suggest that the purified core proteins retained one of the native structures observed in HCV-infected cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyo Izumida
- Laboratory of Viral Infection, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yumiko Hara
- Laboratory of Viral Infection, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Japan
| | - Yukio Furukawa
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadoaka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Kotaro Ishida
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Japan
| | - Keisuke Tabata
- Laboratory of Viral Infection, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Laboratory of Intracellular Membrane Dynamics, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Department of Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Eiji Morita
- Laboratory of Viral Infection, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Japan.
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3
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Lin T, Zhang S, Zhang D, Chen X, Ge Y, Hu Y, Fan J. Use of the redox-dependent intein system for enhancing production of the cyclic green fluorescent protein. Protein Expr Purif 2023; 207:106272. [PMID: 37062513 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2023.106272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
To expand the reported redox-dependent intein system application, in this work, we used the split intein variant with highly trans-splicing efficiency and minimal extein dependence to cyclize the green fluorescent protein variant reporter in vitro. The CPG residues were introduced adjacent to the intein's catalytic cysteine for reversible formation of a disulfide bond to retard the trans-splicing reaction under the oxidative environment. The cyclized reporter protein in Escherichia coli cells was easily prepared by organic extraction and identified by the exopeptidase digestion. The amounts of extracted cyclized protein reporter in BL21 (DE3) cells were higher than those in hyperoxic SHuffle T7 coexpression system for facilitating the disulfide bond formation. The double His6-tagged precursor was purified for in vitro cyclization of the protein for 3 h. Compared with the purified linear counterpart, the cyclic reporter showed about twofold increase in fluorescence intensity, exhibited thermal and hydrolytic stability, and displayed better folding efficiency in BL21 (DE3) cells at the elevated temperature. Taken together, the developed redox-dependent intein system will be used for producing other cyclic disulfide-free proteins. The cyclic reporter is a potential candidate applied in certain thermophilic aerobes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Lin
- School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, PR China
| | - Shuncheng Zhang
- School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, PR China
| | - Di Zhang
- School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, PR China
| | - Xiaofeng Chen
- School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, PR China
| | - Yuanyuan Ge
- School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, PR China
| | - Yafang Hu
- School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, PR China
| | - Jun Fan
- School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, 230036, PR China.
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4
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Improved yield, stability, and cleavage reaction of a novel tobacco etch virus protease mutant. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2022; 106:1475-1492. [DOI: 10.1007/s00253-022-11786-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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5
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Lee SO, Xie Q, Fried SD. Optimized Loopable Translation as a Platform for the Synthesis of Repetitive Proteins. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2021; 7:1736-1750. [PMID: 34729417 PMCID: PMC8554844 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.1c00574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The expression of long proteins with repetitive amino acid sequences often presents a challenge in recombinant systems. To overcome this obstacle, we report a genetic construct that circularizes mRNA in vivo by rearranging the topology of a group I self-splicing intron from T4 bacteriophage, thereby enabling "loopable" translation. Using a fluorescence-based assay to probe the translational efficiency of circularized mRNAs, we identify several conditions that optimize protein expression from this system. Our data suggested that translation of circularized mRNAs could be limited primarily by the rate of ribosomal initiation; therefore, using a modified error-prone PCR method, we generated a library that concentrated mutations into the initiation region of circularized mRNA and discovered mutants that generated markedly higher expression levels. Combining our rational improvements with those discovered through directed evolution, we report a loopable translator that achieves protein expression levels within 1.5-fold of the levels of standard vectorial translation. In summary, our work demonstrates loopable translation as a promising platform for the creation of large peptide chains, with potential utility in the development of novel protein materials.
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6
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Yang Q, Zheng Z, Zhao G, Wang L, Wang H, Ni W, Sun X, Zhang M, Tang H, Wang P. Cloning and functional characterization of the geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase(GGPPS)from Elizabethkingia meningoseptica sp.F2. Protein Expr Purif 2021; 189:105986. [PMID: 34600111 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2021.105986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
To date, there is no functional characterization of EmGGPPS (from Elizabethkingia meningoseptica sp.F2) as enzymes catalyzing GGPP. In this research, maltose-binding protein (MBP), disulfide bond A (DbsA), disulfide bond C (DbsC), and two other small protein tags, GB1 (Protein G B1 domain) and ZZ (Protein A IgG ZZ repeat domain), were used as fusion partners to construct an EmGGPPS fusion expression system. The results indicated that the expression of MBP-EmGGPPS was higher than that of the other four fusion proteins in E. coli BL21 (DE3). Additionally, using EmGGPPS as a catalyst for the production of GGPP was verified using a color complementation assay in Escherichia coli. In parallel with it, the enzyme activity experiment in vitro showed that the EmGGPPS protein could produce GGPP, GPP and FPP. Finally, we successfully demonstrated MK-4 production in engineered E. coli by overexpression of EmGGPPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Yang
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China
| | - Zhiming Zheng
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China.
| | - Genhai Zhao
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China
| | - Li Wang
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China
| | - Han Wang
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China
| | - Wenfeng Ni
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China
| | - Xiaowen Sun
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China
| | - Mengxue Zhang
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China
| | - Hengfang Tang
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China
| | - Peng Wang
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, PR China.
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7
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Eliseev IE, Ukrainskaya VM, Yudenko AN, Mikushina AD, Shmakov SV, Afremova AI, Ekimova VM, Vronskaia AA, Knyazev NA, Shamova OV. Targeting ErbB3 Receptor in Cancer with Inhibitory Antibodies from Llama. Biomedicines 2021; 9:biomedicines9091106. [PMID: 34572289 PMCID: PMC8467012 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9091106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The human ErbB3 receptor confers resistance to the pharmacological inhibition of EGFR and HER2 receptor tyrosine kinases in cancer, which makes it an important therapeutic target. Several anti-ErbB3 monoclonal antibodies that are currently being developed are all classical immunoglobulins. We took a different approach and discovered a group of novel heavy-chain antibodies targeting the extracellular domain of ErbB3 via a phage display of an antibody library from immunized llamas. We first produced three selected single-domain antibodies, named BCD090-P1, BCD090-M2, and BCD090-M456, in E. coli, as SUMO fusions that yielded up to 180 mg of recombinant protein per liter of culture. Then, we studied folding, aggregation, and disulfide bond formation, and showed their ultimate stability with half-denaturation of the strongest candidate, BCD090-P1, occurring in 8 M of urea. In surface plasmon resonance experiments, two most potent antibodies, BCD090-P1 and BCD090-M2, bound the extracellular domain of ErbB3 with 1.6 nM and 15 nM affinities for the monovalent interaction, respectively. The receptor binding was demonstrated by immunofluorescent confocal microscopy on four different ErbB3+ cancer cell lines. We observed that BCD090-P1 and BCD090-M2 bind noncompetitively to two distinct epitopes on the receptor. Both antibodies inhibited the ErbB3-driven proliferation of MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cells and HER2-overexpressing SK-BR-3 cells, with the EC50 in the range of 0.1–25 μg/mL. BCD090-M2 directly blocks ligand binding, whereas BCD090-P1 does not compete with the ligand and presumably acts through a distinct allosteric mechanism. We anticipate that these llama antibodies can be used to engineer new biparatopic anti-ErbB3 or bispecific anti-ErbB2/3 antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor E. Eliseev
- Laboratory of Renewable Energy Sources, Alferov University, St. Petersburg 194021, Russia; (A.D.M.); (S.V.S.); (A.A.V.)
- Center for Personalized Medicine, FSBSI Institute of Experimental Medicine, St. Petersburg 197376, Russia;
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117997, Russia;
- Correspondence:
| | - Valeria M. Ukrainskaya
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117997, Russia;
| | - Anna N. Yudenko
- Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny 141700, Russia;
| | - Anna D. Mikushina
- Laboratory of Renewable Energy Sources, Alferov University, St. Petersburg 194021, Russia; (A.D.M.); (S.V.S.); (A.A.V.)
| | - Stanislav V. Shmakov
- Laboratory of Renewable Energy Sources, Alferov University, St. Petersburg 194021, Russia; (A.D.M.); (S.V.S.); (A.A.V.)
| | | | | | - Anna A. Vronskaia
- Laboratory of Renewable Energy Sources, Alferov University, St. Petersburg 194021, Russia; (A.D.M.); (S.V.S.); (A.A.V.)
| | - Nickolay A. Knyazev
- Saint-Petersburg Clinical Scientific and Practical Center for Specialized Types of Medical Care (Oncological), St. Petersburg 197758, Russia;
| | - Olga V. Shamova
- Center for Personalized Medicine, FSBSI Institute of Experimental Medicine, St. Petersburg 197376, Russia;
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8
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Silva FSR, Santos SPO, Meyer R, Silva ES, Pinheiro CS, Alcantara-Neves NM, Pacheco LGC. In vivo cleavage of solubility tags as a tool to enhance the levels of soluble recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Bioeng 2021; 118:4159-4167. [PMID: 34370304 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Recombinant proteins are generally fused with solubility enhancer tags to improve the folding and solubility of the target protein of interest. However, the fusion protein strategy usually requires expensive proteases to perform in vitro proteolysis and additional chromatographic steps to obtain tag-free recombinant proteins. Expression systems based on intracellular processing of solubility tags in Escherichia coli, through co-expression of a site-specific protease, simplify the recombinant protein purification process, and promote the screening of molecules that fail to remain soluble after tag removal. High yields of soluble target proteins have already been achieved using these protease co-expression systems. Herein, we review approaches for controlled intracellular processing systems tailored to produce soluble untagged proteins in E. coli. We discuss the different genetic systems available for intracellular processing of recombinant proteins regarding system design features, advantages, and limitations of the various strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe S R Silva
- Post-Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Sara P O Santos
- Post-Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Roberto Meyer
- Post-Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.,Post-Graduate Program in Immunology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Eduardo S Silva
- Post-Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.,Post-Graduate Program in Immunology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Carina S Pinheiro
- Post-Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.,Post-Graduate Program in Immunology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Neuza M Alcantara-Neves
- Post-Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.,Post-Graduate Program in Immunology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Luis G C Pacheco
- Post-Graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.,Department of Biotechnology, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
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9
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Huber MC, Schreiber A, Schiller SM. Minimalist Protocell Design: A Molecular System Based Solely on Proteins that Form Dynamic Vesicular Membranes Embedding Enzymatic Functions. Chembiochem 2019; 20:2618-2632. [PMID: 31183952 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201900283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Life in its molecular context is characterized by the challenge of orchestrating structure, energy and information processes through compartmentalization and chemical transformations amenable to mimicry of protocell models. Here we present an alternative protocell model incorporating dynamic membranes based on amphiphilic elastin-like proteins (ELPs) rather than phospholipids. For the first time we demonstrate the feasibility of combining vesicular membrane formation and biocatalytic activity with molecular entities of a single class: proteins. The presented self-assembled protein-membrane-based compartments (PMBCs) accommodate either an anabolic reaction, based on free DNA ligase as an example of information transformation processes, or a catabolic process. We present a catabolic process based on a single molecular entity combining an amphiphilic protein with tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease as part of the enclosure of a reaction space and facilitating selective catalytic transformations. Combining compartmentalization and biocatalytic activity by utilizing an amphiphilic molecular building block with and without enzyme functionalization enables new strategies in bottom-up synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, pharmaceutical science and biotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias C Huber
- Zentrum für Biosystemanalyse (ZBSA), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Habsburgerstrasse 49, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79085, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Schreiber
- Zentrum für Biosystemanalyse (ZBSA), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Habsburgerstrasse 49, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79085, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Stefan M Schiller
- Zentrum für Biosystemanalyse (ZBSA), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Habsburgerstrasse 49, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79085, Freiburg, Germany
- BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 18, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence livMatS @ FIT, Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105, 79110, Freiburg, Germany
- IMTEK Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110, Freiburg, Germany
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10
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Silva FSR, Santos SPO, Meyer R, Alcantara-Neves NM, Pinheiro CS, Pacheco LGC. Single-Input Regulatory Cascade for in vivo Removal of the Solubility Tag in Fusion Recombinant Proteins Produced by Escherichia coli. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2019; 7:200. [PMID: 31482090 PMCID: PMC6710347 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Solubility tags are commonly fused to target recombinant proteins to enhance their solubility and stability. In general, these protein tags must be removed to avoid misfolding of the partner protein and to allow for downstream applications. Nevertheless, in vitro tag removal increases process complexity and costs. Herein, we describe a synthetic biology-based strategy to permit in vivo removal of a solubility tag (EDA, KDPG aldolase), through co-expression of the fusion recombinant protein (EDA-EGFP) and the tag-cleaving protease (TEVp), in a controlled manner. Basically, the system uses three repressor proteins (LacI, cI434, and TetR) to regulate the expressions of EDA-EGFP and TEVp, in a regulatory cascade that culminates with the release of free soluble target protein (EGFP), following a single chemical induction by IPTG. The system worked consistently when all biological parts were cloned in a single plasmid, pSolubility(SOL)A (7.08 Kb, AmpR), and transformed in Escherichia coli Rosetta (DE3) or BL21(DE3) strains. Total soluble recombinant protein yield (EDA-EGFP + free EGFP) was ca. 272.0 ± 60.1 μg/mL of culture, following IMAC purification; free EGFP composed great part (average = 46.5%; maximum = 67.3%) of the total purified protein fraction and was easily separated from remaining fusion EDA-EGFP (53 KDa) through filtration using a 50 KDa cut-off centrifugal filter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe S R Silva
- Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | - Sara P O Santos
- Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | - Roberto Meyer
- Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | - Neuza M Alcantara-Neves
- Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | - Carina S Pinheiro
- Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | - Luis G C Pacheco
- Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
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11
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Comparative study of the insoluble and soluble Ulp1 protease constructs as Carrier free and dependent protein immobilizates. J Biosci Bioeng 2018; 127:23-29. [PMID: 30001877 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2018.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2018] [Revised: 05/24/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we analyzed and compared the properties of yeast Ulp1 protease in active inclusion bodies (IBs) as special protein immobilizate, and the soluble Ulp1 via oriented immobilization. Fusion of the N-terminal self-assembling peptide GFIL8 to the Ulp1 increased production of active IBs in Escherichia coli. Attachment of the N-terminal cellulose-binding module facilitated the constructed protein immobilized on the regenerated amorphous cellulose (RAC) with a binding capacity up to about 235 mg protein per gram of RAC. Compared with the immobilized soluble construct, the insoluble Ulp1 showed higher resistance to limited proteolysis with trypsin digestion, lower leaky amount at different storage temperatures, but more rapid decrease in cleavage activity after stored at 4°C for 8 days. The immobilized soluble Ulp1 maintained about 42% initial cleavage activity with repetitive use successively, whereas the aggregated Ulp1 lost its cleavage capacity after cleaving the protein substrate once. Crosslinking of IBs mediated by glutaraldehyde inactivated the Ulp1. Freshly prepared and used IBs showed similar resistance to protease-K digestion, and comparable binding capacity of Congo red and thioflavin T. Taken together, due to different advantages, the Ulp1 constructs as carrier-free and carrier-dependent immobilizates are used under different conditions.
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12
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Packer MS, Rees HA, Liu DR. Phage-assisted continuous evolution of proteases with altered substrate specificity. Nat Commun 2017; 8:956. [PMID: 29038472 PMCID: PMC5643515 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01055-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Here we perform phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE) of TEV protease, which canonically cleaves ENLYFQS, to cleave a very different target sequence, HPLVGHM, that is present in human IL-23. A protease emerging from ∼2500 generations of PACE contains 20 non-silent mutations, cleaves human IL-23 at the target peptide bond, and when pre-mixed with IL-23 in primary cultures of murine splenocytes inhibits IL-23-mediated immune signaling. We characterize the substrate specificity of this evolved enzyme, revealing shifted and broadened specificity changes at the six positions in which the target amino acid sequence differed. Mutational dissection and additional protease specificity profiling reveal the molecular basis of some of these changes. This work establishes the capability of changing the substrate specificity of a protease at many positions in a practical time scale and provides a foundation for the development of custom proteases that catalytically alter or destroy target proteins for biotechnological and therapeutic applications.Proteases are promising therapeutics to treat diseases such as hemophilia which are due to endogenous protease deficiency. Here the authors use phage-assisted continuous evolution to evolve a variant TEV protease with altered target peptide sequence specificities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Packer
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Graduate Program in Biophysics Program, Harvard University, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 75 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Holly A Rees
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 75 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - David R Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. .,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 75 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA. .,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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A simple method for recombinant protein purification using self-assembling peptide-tagged tobacco etch virus protease. Protein Expr Purif 2016; 128:86-92. [PMID: 27546453 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2016.08.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2016] [Revised: 08/15/2016] [Accepted: 08/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Recombinant protein purification remains to be a major challenge in biotechnology and medicine. In this paper we report a simple method for recombinant protein purification using self-assembling peptide-tagged tobacco etch virus protease (TEVp). After construction of an N-terminal ELK16 peptide fusion expression vector, we expressed ELK16-TEVp fusion protein in E. coli. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that ELK16-TEVp was expressed as active protein aggregates which could be purified to 91% purity with 92% recovery by centrifugation in the presence 0.5% Triton X-100. By using His-tagged bovine interferon-γ (His-BoIFN-γ) as the substrate, we demonstrated that EKL16-TEVp had a protease activity of 1.3 × 10(4) units/mg protein with almost 100% cleavage efficiency under the optimized conditions. More importantly, EKL16-TEVp could be removed from the cleavage reaction by single-step centrifugation. After removing the His-tag by nickel-conjugated agarose bead absorption, the recombinant BoIFN-γ (rBoIFN-γ) was purified to 98.3% purity with 63% recovery. The rBoIFN-γ had an antiviral activity of 1.6 × 10(3) units/mg protein against vesicular stomatitis virus. These data suggest that ELK16-TEVp may become a universal tool for recombinant protein purification.
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Cesaratto F, Burrone OR, Petris G. Tobacco Etch Virus protease: A shortcut across biotechnologies. J Biotechnol 2016; 231:239-249. [PMID: 27312702 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2016.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2016] [Revised: 05/31/2016] [Accepted: 06/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
About thirty years ago, studies on the RNA genome of Tobacco Etch Virus revealed the presence of an efficient and specific protease, called Tobacco Etch Virus protease (TEVp), that was part of the Nuclear Inclusion a (NIa) enzyme. TEVp is an efficient and specific protease of 27kDa that has become a valuable biotechnological tool. Nowadays TEVp is a unique endopeptidase largely exploited in biotechnology from industrial applications to in vitro and in vivo cellular studies. A number of TEVp mutants with different rate of cleavage, stability and specificity have been reported. Similarly, a panel of different target cleavage sites, derived from the canonical ENLYFQ-G/S site, has been established. In this review we describe these aspects of TEVp and some of its multiple applications. A particular focus is on the use and molecular biology of TEVp in living cells and organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Cesaratto
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, ICGEB, Trieste, Italy
| | - Oscar R Burrone
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, ICGEB, Trieste, Italy.
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Zheng X, Wu X, Fu X, Dai D, Wang F. Expression and purification of human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) fused with GB1. BIOTECHNOL BIOTEC EQ 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/13102818.2016.1166984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xueming Zheng
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Xin Wu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Xingli Fu
- Jiangsu University Health Science Center, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Dongping Dai
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Feihu Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
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16
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Fang J, Zou L, Zhou X, Cheng B, Fan J. Synonymous rare arginine codons and tRNA abundance affect protein production and quality of TEV protease variant. PLoS One 2014; 9:e112254. [PMID: 25426854 PMCID: PMC4245098 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2014] [Accepted: 08/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been identified that a TEV protease (TEVp) variant, TEVp5M, displays improved solubility. Here, we constructed fifteen TEVp5M variants with one or more of six rare arginine codons in the coding sequence replaced with abundant E. coli arginine codons. These codon variants expressed in either E. coli BL21 (DE3) or Rossetta (DE3) showed different solubility and activity. Supply of rare tRNAs increased the tendency of certain codon variants to form insoluble aggregates at early induction stage, as determined by the fused S-tag. About 32% increase in soluble protein production of M5 variant with four synonymously mutated arginine codons was identified in Rossetta (DE3) cells using GFP fusion reporter, comparable to that of TEVp5M. After purification, two other codon variants from both E. coli strains exhibited less activity than TEVp5M on cleaving the native or modified recognition sequence incorporated between GST and E. coli diaminopropionate ammonialyase by enzyme-coupled assay, whereas purified M5 variant showed activity similar to the TEVp5M. Supply of rare tRNAs caused the decrease of activity of TEVp5M and M5 by about 21%. Our results revealed that engineering of highly soluble TEVp variants can be achieved by the combined mutations of amino acid residues and optimization of specific rare codons, whereas simple augment of rare tRNAs abundance resulted in partial loss of activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Fang
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, PR China
| | - Lingling Zou
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, PR China
| | - Xuan Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, PR China
| | - Beijiu Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, PR China
| | - Jun Fan
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, PR China
- * E-mail:
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17
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His224 alters the R2 drug binding site and Phe218 influences the catalytic efficiency of the metallo-β-lactamase VIM-7. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2014; 58:4826-36. [PMID: 24913158 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02735-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are the causative mechanism for resistance to β-lactams, including carbapenems, in many Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. One important family of MBLs is the Verona integron-encoded MBLs (VIM). In this study, the importance of residues Asp120, Phe218, and His224 in the most divergent VIM variant, VIM-7, was investigated to better understand the roles of these residues in VIM enzymes through mutations, enzyme kinetics, crystal structures, thermostability, and docking experiments. The tVIM-7-D120A mutant with a tobacco etch virus (TEV) cleavage site was enzymatically inactive, and its structure showed the presence of only the Zn1 ion. The mutant was less thermostable, with a melting temperature (T(m)) of 48.5°C, compared to 55.3 °C for the wild-type tVIM-7. In the F218Y mutant, a hydrogen bonding cluster was established involving residues Asn70, Asp84, and Arg121. The tVIM-7-F218Y mutant had enhanced activity compared to wild-type tVIM-7, and a slightly higher Tm (57.1 °C) was observed, most likely due to the hydrogen bonding cluster. Furthermore, the introduction of two additional hydrogen bonds adjacent to the active site in the tVIM-7-H224Y mutant gave a higher thermostability (T(m), 62.9 °C) and increased enzymatic activity compared to those of the wild-type tVIM-7. Docking of ceftazidime in to the active site of tVIM-7, tVIM-7-H224Y, and VIM-7-F218Y revealed that the side-chain conformations of residue 224 and Arg228 in the L3 loop and Tyr67 in the L1 loop all influence possible substrate binding conformations. In conclusion, the residue composition of the L3 loop, as shown with the single H224Y mutation, is important for activity particularly toward the positively charged cephalosporins like cefepime and ceftazidime.
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Guan D, Chen Z. Challenges and recent advances in affinity purification of tag-free proteins. Biotechnol Lett 2014; 36:1391-406. [DOI: 10.1007/s10529-014-1509-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2013] [Accepted: 03/03/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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Zhou C, Yan Y, Fang J, Cheng B, Fan J. A new fusion protein platform for quantitatively measuring activity of multiple proteases. Microb Cell Fact 2014; 13:44. [PMID: 24649897 PMCID: PMC4000059 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2859-13-44] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2014] [Accepted: 03/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recombinant proteins fused with specific cleavage sequences are widely used as substrate for quantitatively analyzing the activity of proteases. Here we propose a new fusion platform for multiple proteases, by using diaminopropionate ammonia-lyase (DAL) as the fusion protein. It was based on the finding that a fused His6-tag could significantly decreases the activities of DAL from E. coli (eDAL) and Salmonella typhimurium (sDAL). Previously, we have shown that His6GST-tagged eDAL could be used to determine the activity of tobacco etch virus protease (TEVp) under different temperatures or in the denaturant at different concentrations. In this report, we will assay different tags and cleavage sequences on DAL for expressing yield in E. coli, stability of the fused proteins and performance of substrate of other common proteases. RESULTS We tested seven different protease cleavage sequences (rhinovirus 3C, TEV protease, factor Xa, Ssp DnaB intein, Sce VMA1 intein, thrombin and enterokinase), three different tags (His6, GST, CBD and MBP) and two different DALs (eDAL and sDAL), for their performance as substrate to the seven corresponding proteases. Among them, we found four active DAL-fusion substrates suitable for TEVp, factor Xa, thrombin and DnaB intein. Enterokinase cleaved eDAL at undesired positions and did not process sDAL. Substitution of GST with MBP increase the expression level of the fused eDAL and this fusion protein was suitable as a substrate for analyzing activity of rhinovirus 3C. We demonstrated that SUMO protease Ulp1 with a N-terminal His6-tag or MBP tag displayed different activity using the designed His6SUMO-eDAL as substrate. Finally, owing to the high level of the DAL-fusion protein in E. coli, these protein substrates can also be detected directly from the crude extract. CONCLUSION The results show that our designed DAL-fusion proteins can be used to quantify the activities of both sequence- and conformational-specific proteases, with sufficient substrate specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengdong Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, 130#, Changjiang West Road, Hefei City, Anhui Province 230036, PR. China
| | - Yanping Yan
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, 130#, Changjiang West Road, Hefei City, Anhui Province 230036, PR. China
| | - Jie Fang
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, 130#, Changjiang West Road, Hefei City, Anhui Province 230036, PR. China
| | - Beijiu Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, 130#, Changjiang West Road, Hefei City, Anhui Province 230036, PR. China
| | - Jun Fan
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, 130#, Changjiang West Road, Hefei City, Anhui Province 230036, PR. China
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Fang J, Chen L, Cheng B, Fan J. Engineering soluble tobacco etch virus protease accompanies the loss of stability. Protein Expr Purif 2013; 92:29-35. [PMID: 24012464 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2013.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2013] [Revised: 08/20/2013] [Accepted: 08/22/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Tobacco etch virus protease (TEVp) is a widely used tool enzyme in biological studies. To improve the solubility of recombinant TEVp, three variants, including the double mutant (L56V/S135G), the triple mutant (T17S/N68D/I77V), and the quintuple mutant (T17S/L56V/N68D/I77V/S135G), have been developed, however, with little information on functional stability. Here we investigated the solubility and stability of the three TEVp mutants under different temperature and denaturants, and in Escherichiacoli with different cultural conditions. The quintuple mutant showed the highest solubility and thermostablity, and the double mutant was most resistant to the denaturants. The double mutant folded best in E. coli cells at 37°C with or without the co-expressed molecular chaperones GroEL, GroES and GrpE. The least soluble wild type TEVp displayed better tolerance to denaturants than the triple and the quintuple mutants. All results demonstrated that TEVp is not engineered to embody the most desirable solubility and stability by the current mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Fang
- Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
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Wang JZ, Ren SY, Zhu GF, Xi L, Han YG, Luo Y, Du LF. Hg2+ interference with the structure of tobacco etch virus protease (TEVp) and its implications for biological engineering. J Mol Struct 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2013.08.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2022]
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Insight into the structural stability of wild type and mutants of the tobacco etch virus protease with molecular dynamics simulations. J Mol Model 2013; 19:4865-75. [PMID: 24043540 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-013-1930-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2013] [Accepted: 06/18/2013] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The efficiency and high specificity of tobacco etch virus protease (TEVp) has made it widely used for cleavage of recombinant fusion proteins. However, TEVp suffers from a few intrinsic defects such as self-cleavage, poorly expressed in E. coli and less soluble. So some mutants were designed to improve it, such as S219V, T17S/N68D/I77V and L56V/S135G etc. MD simulations for the WT TEVp and its mutants were performed to explore the underlying dynamic effects of mutations on TEVp. Although the globular domains are fairly conserved, the three mutations have diverse effects on the dynamics properties of TEVp, including the elongation of β-sheet, conversion of loop to helix and the flexibility of active core. Our present study indicates that the three mutants for TEVp can change their secondary structure and tend to form more helixes and sheets to improve stability. The study also helps us to understand the effects of some mutations on TEVp, provides us insights into the change of them at the atomic level and gives a potential rational method to design an improved protein.
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