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Heppner R, Weichert N, Schierhorn A, Conrad U, Pietzsch M. Low-Tech, Pilot Scale Purification of a Recombinant Spider Silk Protein Analog from Tobacco Leaves. Int J Mol Sci 2016; 17:E1687. [PMID: 27735843 PMCID: PMC5085719 DOI: 10.3390/ijms17101687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Revised: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Spider dragline is used by many members of the Araneae family not only as a proteinogenic safety thread but also for web construction. Spider dragline has been shown to possess high tensile strength in combination with elastic behavior. This high tensile strength can be attributed to the presence of antiparallel β-sheets within the thread; these antiparallel β-sheets are why the protein is classified as a silk. Due to the properties of spider silk and its technical and medical uses, including its use as a suture material and as a scaffold for tissue regeneration, spider dragline is a focus of the biotechnology industry. The production of sufficient amounts of spider silk is challenging, as it is difficult to produce large quantities of fibers because of the cannibalistic behavior of spiders and their large spatial requirements. In recent years, the heterologous expression of genes coding for spider silk analogs in various hosts, including plants such as Nicotiana tabacum, has been established. We developed a simple and scalable method for the purification of a recombinant spider silk protein elastin-like peptide fusion protein (Q-/K-MaSp1-100× ELP) after heterologous production in tobacco leaves involving heat and acetone precipitation. Further purification was performed using centrifugal Inverse Transition Cycling (cITC). Up to 400 mg of highly pure spider silk protein derivatives can be isolated from six kilograms of tobacco leaves, which is the highest amount of silk protein derivatives purified from plants thus far.
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Affiliation(s)
- René Heppner
- Department of Downstream Processing, Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Sciences I-Biosciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Weinbergweg 22, Halle 06120, Germany.
| | - Nicola Weichert
- Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research-IPK, Corrensstrasse 3, Seeland OT Gatersleben 06466, Germany.
| | - Angelika Schierhorn
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Sciences I-Biosciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, Halle 06120, Germany.
| | - Udo Conrad
- Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research-IPK, Corrensstrasse 3, Seeland OT Gatersleben 06466, Germany.
| | - Markus Pietzsch
- Department of Downstream Processing, Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Sciences I-Biosciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Weinbergweg 22, Halle 06120, Germany.
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Weichert N, Hauptmann V, Helmold C, Conrad U. Seed-Specific Expression of Spider Silk Protein Multimers Causes Long-Term Stability. Front Plant Sci 2016; 7:6. [PMID: 26858734 PMCID: PMC4729946 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2015] [Accepted: 01/06/2016] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Seeds enable plants to germinate and to grow in situations of limited availability of nutrients. The stable storage of different seed proteins is a remarkable presumption for successful germination and growth. These strategies have been adapted and used in several molecular farming projects. In this study, we explore the benefits of seed-based expression to produce the high molecular weight spider silk protein FLAG using intein-based trans-splicing. Multimers larger than 460 kDa in size are routinely produced, which is above the native size of the FLAG protein. The storage of seeds for 8 weeks and 1 year at an ambient temperature of 15°C does not influence the accumulation level. Even the extended storage time does not influence the typical pattern of multimerized bands. These results show that seeds are the method of choice for stable accumulation of products of complex transgenes and have the capability for long-term storage at moderate conditions, an important feature for the development of suitable downstream processes.
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Hauptmann V, Menzel M, Weichert N, Reimers K, Spohn U, Conrad U. In planta production of ELPylated spidroin-based proteins results in non-cytotoxic biopolymers. BMC Biotechnol 2015; 15:9. [PMID: 25888206 PMCID: PMC4343268 DOI: 10.1186/s12896-015-0123-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2014] [Accepted: 02/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Spider silk is a tear-resistant and elastic biopolymer that has outstanding mechanical properties. Additionally, exiguous immunogenicity is anticipated for spider silks. Therefore, spider silk represents a potential ideal biomaterial for medical applications. All known spider silk proteins, so-called spidroins, reveal a composite nature of silk-specific units, allowing the recombinant production of individual and combined segments. RESULTS In this report, a miniaturized spidroin gene, named VSO1 that contains repetitive motifs of MaSp1 has been synthesized and combined to form multimers of distinct lengths, which were heterologously expressed as elastin-like peptide (ELP) fusion proteins in tobacco. The elastic penetration moduli of layered proteins were analyzed for different spidroin-based biopolymers. Moreover, we present the first immunological analysis of synthetic spidroin-based biopolymers. Characterization of the binding behavior of the sera after immunization by competitive ELISA suggested that the humoral immune response is mainly directed against the fusion partner ELP. In addition, cytocompatibility studies with murine embryonic fibroblasts indicated that recombinant spidroin-based biopolymers, in solution or as coated proteins, are well tolerated. CONCLUSION The results show that spidroin-based biopolymers can induce humoral immune responses that are dependent on the fusion partner and the overall protein structure. Furthermore, cytocompatibility assays gave no indication of spidroin-derived cytotoxicity, suggesting that recombinant produced biopolymers composed of spider silk-like repetitive elements are suitable for biomedical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeska Hauptmann
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Corrensstrasse 3, 06466, Stadt Seeland, OT Gatersleben, Germany.
| | - Matthias Menzel
- Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials, Walter-Hülse-Strasse 1, 06120, Halle/Saale, Germany.
| | - Nicola Weichert
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Corrensstrasse 3, 06466, Stadt Seeland, OT Gatersleben, Germany.
| | - Kerstin Reimers
- Department of Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Podbielskistr. 380, 30659, Hannover, Germany.
| | - Uwe Spohn
- Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials, Walter-Hülse-Strasse 1, 06120, Halle/Saale, Germany.
| | - Udo Conrad
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Corrensstrasse 3, 06466, Stadt Seeland, OT Gatersleben, Germany.
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Weichert N, Hauptmann V, Menzel M, Schallau K, Gunkel P, Hertel TC, Pietzsch M, Spohn U, Conrad U. Transglutamination allows production and characterization of native-sized ELPylated spider silk proteins from transgenic plants. Plant Biotechnol J 2014; 12:265-75. [PMID: 24237483 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2013] [Revised: 09/03/2013] [Accepted: 09/12/2013] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
In the last two decades it was shown that plants have a great potential for production of specific heterologous proteins. But high cost and inefficient downstream processing are a main technical bottleneck for the broader use of plant-based production technology especially for protein-based products, for technical use as fibres or biodegradable plastics and also for medical applications. High-performance fibres from recombinant spider silks are, therefore, a prominent example. Spiders developed rather different silk materials that are based on proteins. These spider silks show excellent properties in terms of elasticity and toughness. Natural spider silk proteins have a very high molecular weight, and it is precisely this property which is thought to give them their strength. Transgenic plants were generated to produce ELPylated recombinant spider silk derivatives. These fusion proteins were purified by Inverse Transition Cycling (ITC) and enzymatically multimerized with transglutaminase in vitro. Layers produced by casting monomers and multimers were characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and AFM-based nanoindentation. The layered multimers formed by mixing lysine- and glutamine-tagged monomers were associated with the highest elastic penetration modulus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Weichert
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Stadt Seeland/Ortsteil, Gatersleben, Germany
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Hauptmann V, Weichert N, Rakhimova M, Conrad U. Spider silks from plants - a challenge to create native-sized spidroins. Biotechnol J 2013; 8:1183-92. [DOI: 10.1002/biot.201300204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2013] [Revised: 07/17/2013] [Accepted: 08/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Hauptmann V, Weichert N, Menzel M, Knoch D, Paege N, Scheller J, Spohn U, Conrad U, Gils M. Native-sized spider silk proteins synthesized in planta via intein-based multimerization. Transgenic Res 2013; 22:369-77. [PMID: 23001519 DOI: 10.1007/s11248-012-9655-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2012] [Accepted: 09/05/2012] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The synthesis of native-sized proteins is a pre-requisite for exploiting the potential of spider silk as a bio-based material. The unique properties of spider silk, such as extraordinary tensile strength and elasticity, result from the highly repetitive nature of spider silk protein motifs. The present report describes the combination of spider silk flagelliform protein (FLAG) production in the endoplasmic reticulum of tobacco plant leaf cells with an intein-based posttranslational protein fusion technology. The repeated ligation of FLAG monomers resulted in the formation of large multimers. This method avoids the need for highly repetitive transgenes, which may result in a higher genetic and transcriptional stability. Here we show, for the first time, the production of synthetic, high molecular weight spider silk proteins larger than 250 kDa based on the assembly of protein monomers via intein-mediated trans-splicing in planta. The resulting multimeric structures form microfibers, thereby demonstrating their great potential as a biomaterial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeska Hauptmann
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Corrensstrasse 3, 06466 Stadt Seeland, OT Gatersleben, Germany
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Weichert N, Saalbach I, Weichert H, Kohl S, Erban A, Kopka J, Hause B, Varshney A, Sreenivasulu N, Strickert M, Kumlehn J, Weschke W, Weber H. Increasing sucrose uptake capacity of wheat grains stimulates storage protein synthesis. Plant Physiol 2010; 152:698-710. [PMID: 20018590 PMCID: PMC2815873 DOI: 10.1104/pp.109.150854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2009] [Accepted: 12/09/2009] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Increasing grain sink strength by improving assimilate uptake capacity could be a promising approach toward getting higher yield. The barley (Hordeum vulgare) sucrose transporter HvSUT1 (SUT) was expressed under control of the endosperm-specific Hordein B1 promoter (HO). Compared with the wild type, transgenic HOSUT grains take up more sucrose (Suc) in vitro, showing that the transgene is functional. Grain Suc levels are not altered, indicating that Suc fluxes are influenced rather than steady-state levels. HOSUT grains have increased percentages of total nitrogen and prolamins, which is reflected in increased levels of phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, isoleucine, and leucine at late grain development. Transcript profiling indicates specific stimulation of prolamin gene expression at the onset of storage phase. Changes in gene expression and metabolite levels related to carbon metabolism and amino acid biosynthesis suggest deregulated carbon-nitrogen balance, which together indicate carbon sufficiency and relative depletion of nitrogen. Genes, deregulated together with prolamin genes, might represent candidates, which respond positively to assimilate supply and are related to sugar-starch metabolism, cytokinin and brassinosteroid functions, cell proliferation, and sugar/abscisic acid signaling. Genes showing inverse expression patterns represent potential negative regulators. It is concluded that HvSUT1 overexpression increases grain protein content but also deregulates the metabolic status of wheat (Triticum aestivum) grains, accompanied by up-regulated gene expression of positive and negative regulators related to sugar signaling and assimilate supply. In HOSUT grains, alternating stimulation of positive and negative regulators causes oscillatory patterns of gene expression and highlights the capacity and great flexibility to adjust wheat grain storage metabolism in response to metabolic alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hans Weber
- Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung, D–06466 Gatersleben, Germany (N.W., I.S., H.W., S.K., A.V., N.S., M.S., J.K., W.W., H.W.); Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, D–14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany (A.E., J.K.); and Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie, D–06120 Halle (Saale), Germany (B.H.)
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Kaltenborn E, Fragnet L, Konzelmann KK, Weichert N, Griese M, Moslavac S. ABCA3 mutations influence the stress level and immunological function of lung epithelial A549 cells. Pneumologie 2010. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1247924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Weichert N, Kaltenborn E, Hector A, Woischnik M, Moslavac S, Griese M. Cellular mechanisms of interstitial lung disease in children caused by mutations of the ABCA3-transporter. Pneumologie 2010. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1247959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Weichert N, Kaltenborn E, Ochs M, Moslavac S, Woischnik M, Griese M. Zelluläre Mechanismen interstitieller Lungenerkrankungen durch Mutationen im ABCA3-Transporter. Pneumologie 2009. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1202427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Thiel J, Weier D, Sreenivasulu N, Strickert M, Weichert N, Melzer M, Czauderna T, Wobus U, Weber H, Weschke W. Different hormonal regulation of cellular differentiation and function in nucellar projection and endosperm transfer cells: a microdissection-based transcriptome study of young barley grains. Plant Physiol 2008; 148:1436-52. [PMID: 18784282 PMCID: PMC2577268 DOI: 10.1104/pp.108.127001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2008] [Accepted: 09/05/2008] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Nucellar projection (NP) and endosperm transfer cells (ETC) are essential tissues in growing barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains, responsible for nutrient transfer from maternal to filial tissues, endosperm/embryo nutrition, and grain development. A laser microdissection pressure catapulting-based transcriptome analysis was established to study NP and ETC separately using a barley 12K macroarray. A major challenge was to isolate high-quality mRNA from preembedded, fixed tissue while maintaining tissue integrity. We show that probes generated from fixed and embedded tissue sections represent largely the transcriptome (>70%) of nonchemically treated and nonamplified references. In NP, the top-down gradient of cellular differentiation is reflected by the expression of C3HC4-type ubiquitin ligases and different histone genes, cell wall biosynthesis and expansin/extensin genes, as well as genes involved in programmed cell death-related proteolysis coupled to nitrogen remobilization, indicating distinct areas simultaneously undergoing mitosis, cell elongation, and disintegration. Activated gene expression related to gibberellin synthesis and function suggests a regulatory role for gibberellins in establishment of the differentiation gradient. Up-regulation of plasmalemma-intrinsic protein and tonoplast-intrinsic protein genes indicates involvement in nutrient transfer and/or unloading. In ETC, AP2/EREBP-like transcription factors and ethylene functions are transcriptionally activated, a response possibly coupled to activated defense mechanisms. Transcriptional activation of nucleotide sugar metabolism may be attributed to ascorbate synthesis and/or cell wall biosynthesis. These processes are potentially controlled by trehalose-6-P synthase/phosphatase, as suggested by expression of their respective genes. Up-regulation of amino acid permeases in ETC indicates important roles in active nutrient uptake from the apoplastic space into the endosperm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Thiel
- Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung, D-06466 Gatersleben, Germany.
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