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Shen Q, Cui J, Wang Y, Hu ZC, Xue YP, Zheng YG. Identification of a novel growth-associated promoter for biphasic expression of heterogenous proteins in Pichia pastoris. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0174023. [PMID: 38193674 PMCID: PMC10880622 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01740-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) is one of the most popular cell factories for expressing exogenous proteins and producing useful chemicals. The alcohol oxidase 1 promoter (PAOX1) is the most commonly used strong promoter in P. pastoris and has the characteristic of biphasic expression. However, the inducer for PAOX1, methanol, has toxicity and poses risks in industrial settings. In the present study, analyzing transcriptomic data of cells collected at different stages of growth found that the formate dehydrogenase (FDH) gene ranked 4960th in relative expression among 5032 genes during the early logarithmic growth phase but rose to the 10th and 1st during the middle and late logarithmic growth phases, respectively, displaying a strict biphasic expression characteristic. The unique transcriptional regulatory profile of the FDH gene prompted us to investigate the properties of its promoter (PFDH800). Under single-copy conditions, when a green fluorescent protein variant was used as the expression target, the PFDH800 achieved 119% and 69% of the activity of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter and PAOX1, respectively. After increasing the copy number of the expression cassette in the strain to approximately four copies, the expression level of GFPuv driven by PFDH800 increased to approximately 2.5 times that of the strain containing GFPuv driven by a single copy of PAOX1. Our PFDH800-based expression system exhibited precise biphasic expression, ease of construction, minimal impact on normal cellular metabolism, and high strength. Therefore, it has the potential to serve as a new expression system to replace the PAOX1 promoter.IMPORTANCEThe alcohol oxidase 1 promoter (PAOX1) expression system has the characteristics of biphasic expression and high expression levels, making it the most widely used promoter in the yeast Pichia pastoris. However, PAOX1 requires methanol induction, which can be toxic and poses a fire hazard in large quantities. Our research has found that the activity of PFDH800 is closely related to the growth state of cells and can achieve biphasic expression without the need for an inducer. Compared to other reported non-methanol-induced biphasic expression systems, the system based on the PFDH800 offers several advantages, including high expression levels, simple construction, minimal impact on cellular metabolism, no need for an inducer, and the ability to fine-tune expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Shen
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomanufacturing of Chiral Chemicals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jie Cui
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomanufacturing of Chiral Chemicals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomanufacturing of Chiral Chemicals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhong-Ce Hu
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomanufacturing of Chiral Chemicals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ya-Ping Xue
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomanufacturing of Chiral Chemicals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yu-Guo Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomanufacturing of Chiral Chemicals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
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Zavec D, Gasser B, Mattanovich D. Characterization of methanol utilization negative Pichia pastoris for secreted protein production: New cultivation strategies for current and future applications. Biotechnol Bioeng 2020; 117:1394-1405. [PMID: 32034758 PMCID: PMC7187134 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The methanol utilization (Mut) phenotype in the yeast Pichia pastoris (syn. Komagataella spp.) is defined by the deletion of the genes AOX1 and AOX2. The Mut- phenotype cannot grow on methanol as a single carbon source. We assessed the Mut- phenotype for secreted recombinant protein production. The methanol inducible AOX1 promoter (PAOX1 ) was active in the Mut- phenotype and showed adequate eGFP fluorescence levels and protein yields (YP/X ) in small-scale screenings. Different bioreactor cultivation scenarios with methanol excess concentrations were tested using PAOX1 HSA and PAOX1 vHH expression constructs. Scenario B comprising a glucose-methanol phase and a 72-hr-long methanol only phase was the best performing, producing 531 mg/L HSA and 1631 mg/L vHH. 61% of the HSA was produced in the methanol only phase where no biomass growth was observed, representing a special case of growth independent production. By using the Mut- phenotype, the oxygen demand, heat output, and specific methanol uptake (qmethanol ) in the methanol phase were reduced by more than 80% compared with the MutS phenotype. The highlighted improved process parameters coupled with growth independent protein production are overlooked benefits of the Mut- strain for current and future applications in the field of recombinant protein production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Domen Zavec
- Department of BiotechnologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
- CD‐Laboratory for Growth‐Decoupled Protein Production in Yeast, Department of BiotechnologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Brigitte Gasser
- Department of BiotechnologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
- CD‐Laboratory for Growth‐Decoupled Protein Production in Yeast, Department of BiotechnologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Diethard Mattanovich
- Department of BiotechnologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
- CD‐Laboratory for Growth‐Decoupled Protein Production in Yeast, Department of BiotechnologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
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Zhang C, Ma Y, Miao H, Tang X, Xu B, Wu Q, Mu Y, Huang Z. Transcriptomic Analysis of Pichia pastoris ( Komagataella phaffii) GS115 During Heterologous Protein Production Using a High-Cell-Density Fed-Batch Cultivation Strategy. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:463. [PMID: 32265887 PMCID: PMC7098997 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii) is a methylotrophic yeast that is widely used in industry as a host system for heterologous protein expression. Heterologous gene expression is typically facilitated by strongly inducible promoters derived from methanol utilization genes or constitutive glycolytic promoters. However, protein production is usually accomplished by a fed-batch induction process, which is known to negatively affect cell physiology, resulting in limited protein yields and quality. To assess how yields of exogenous proteins can be increased and to further understand the physiological response of P. pastoris to the carbon conversion of glycerol and methanol, as well as the continuous induction of methanol, we analyzed recombinant protein production in a 10,000-L fed-batch culture. Furthermore, we investigated gene expression during the yeast cell culture phase, glycerol feed phase, glycerol-methanol mixture feed (GM) phase, and at different time points following methanol induction using RNA-Seq. We report that the addition of the GM phase may help to alleviate the adverse effects of methanol addition (alone) on P. pastoris cells. Secondly, enhanced upregulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway was observed in P. pastoris following methanol induction. The MAPK signaling pathway may be related to P. pastoris cell growth and may regulate the alcohol oxidase1 (AOX1) promoter via regulatory factors activated by methanol-mediated stimulation. Thirdly, the unfolded protein response (UPR) and ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathways were not significantly upregulated during the methanol induction period. These results imply that the presence of unfolded or misfolded phytase protein did not represent a serious problem in our study. Finally, the upregulation of the autophagy pathway during the methanol induction phase may be related to the degradation of damaged peroxisomes but not to the production of phytase. This work describes the metabolic characteristics of P. pastoris during heterologous protein production under high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation. We believe that the results of this study will aid further in-depth studies of P. pastoris heterologous protein expression, regulation, and secretory mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengbo Zhang
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Yu Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Huabiao Miao
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Xianghua Tang
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Yunnan for Biomass Energy and Biotechnology of Environment, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Bo Xu
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Yunnan for Biomass Energy and Biotechnology of Environment, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Qian Wu
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Yunnan for Biomass Energy and Biotechnology of Environment, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Yuelin Mu
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Yunnan for Biomass Energy and Biotechnology of Environment, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Zunxi Huang
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Yunnan for Biomass Energy and Biotechnology of Environment, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
- Key Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
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Li T, Ma J, Xu Z, Wang S, Wang N, Shao S, Yang W, Huang L, Liu Y. Transcriptomic Analysis of the Influence of Methanol Assimilation on the Gene Expression in the Recombinant Pichia pastoris Producing Hirudin Variant 3. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10080606. [PMID: 31409011 PMCID: PMC6722669 DOI: 10.3390/genes10080606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [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: 07/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/07/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Hirudin and its variants, as strong inhibitors against thrombin, are present in the saliva of leeches and are recognized as potent anticoagulants. However, their yield is far from the clinical requirement up to now. In this study, the production of hirudin variant 3 (HV3) was successfully realized by cultivating the recombinant Pichia pastoris GS115/pPIC9K-hv3 under the regulation of the promoter of AOX1 encoding alcohol oxidase (AOX). The antithrombin activity in the fermentation broth reached the maximum value of 5000 ATU/mL. To explore an effective strategy for improving HV3 production in the future, we investigated the influence of methanol assimilation on the general gene expression in this recombinant by transcriptomic study. The results showed that methanol was partially oxidized into CO2, and the rest was converted into glycerone-P which subsequently entered into central carbon metabolism, energy metabolism, and amino acid biosynthesis. However, the later metabolic processes were almost all down-regulated. Therefore, we propose that the up-regulated central carbon metabolism, energy, and amino acid metabolism should be beneficial for methanol assimilation, which would accordingly improve the production of HV3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Li
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
- College of Basic Science, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300384, China
| | - Jieying Ma
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
| | - Zehua Xu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
| | - Shuang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
| | - Nan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
| | - Shulin Shao
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
| | - Wei Yang
- College of Basic Science, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300384, China
| | - Lin Huang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
| | - Yihan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, The College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China.
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Wang X, Wang Q, Wang J, Bai P, Shi L, Shen W, Zhou M, Zhou X, Zhang Y, Cai M. Mit1 Transcription Factor Mediates Methanol Signaling and Regulates the Alcohol Oxidase 1 (AOX1) Promoter in Pichia pastoris. J Biol Chem 2016; 291:6245-61. [PMID: 26828066 PMCID: PMC4813576 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m115.692053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2015] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The alcohol oxidase 1 (AOX1) promoter (PAOX1) of Pichia pastoris is the most powerful and commonly used promoter for driving protein expression. However, mechanisms regulating its transcriptional activity are unclear. Here, we identified a Zn(II)2Cys6-type methanol-induced transcription factor 1 (Mit1) and elucidated its roles in regulating PAOX1 activity in response to glycerol and methanol. Mit1 regulated the expression of many genes involved in methanol utilization pathway, including AOX1, but did not participate in peroxisome proliferation and transportation of peroxisomal proteins during methanol metabolism. Structural analysis of Mit1 by performing domain deletions confirmed its specific and critical role in the strict repression of PAOX1 in glycerol medium. Importantly, Mit1, Mxr1, and Prm1, which positively regulated PAOX1 in response to methanol, were bound to PAOX1 at different sites and did not interact with each other. However, these factors cooperatively activated PAOX1 through a cascade. Mxr1 mainly functioned during carbon derepression, whereas Mit1 and Prm1 functioned during methanol induction, with Prm1 transmitting methanol signal to Mit1 by binding to the MIT1 promoter (PMIT1), thus increasingly expressing Mit1 and subsequently activating PAOX1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolong Wang
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Qi Wang
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Jinjia Wang
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Peng Bai
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Lei Shi
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Wei Shen
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Mian Zhou
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Xiangshan Zhou
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
| | - Yuanxing Zhang
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and the Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomanufacturing (SCICB), Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Menghao Cai
- From the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China and
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