Epigenetic mechanisms underlie the morphological transformations and shifts in virulence of eukaryotic pathogens. The targeting of epigenetics-driven cellular programs thus represents an Achilles' heel of human parasites. Today, zinc-dependent histone deacetylases (HDACs) belong to the most explored epigenetic drug targets in eukaryotic parasites. Here, we describe an optimized protocol for the large-scale overproduction and purification of recombinant smHDAC8, an emerging epigenetic drug target in the multicellular human-pathogenic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni. The strategy employs the robustness of recombinant expression in Escherichia coli together with initial purification through a poly-histidine affinity tag that can be removed by the thrombin protease. This protocol is divided into two steps: (1) large-scale production of smHDAC8 in E. coli, and (2) purification of the target smHDAC8 protein through multiple purification steps.
Keywords: Enzyme; Histone deacetylase; Purification; Recombinant expression; Schistosoma.