Human G-CSF synthesis using stress-responsive bacterial proteins

FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2009 Jul;296(1):60-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2009.01616.x. Epub 2009 May 5.

Abstract

We previously reported that under the stress condition caused by the addition of 2-hydroxyethyl disulfide, a thiol-specific oxidant, to growing cultures of Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), a population of stress-responsive proteins [peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase B (PpiB), bacterioferritin (Bfr), putative HTH-type transcriptional regulator yjdC (YjdC), dihydrofolate reductase (FolA), chemotaxis protein cheZ (CheZ), and glutathione synthetase (GshB)] were significantly upregulated when compared with the nonstress condition. When those stress-responsive proteins were used as fusion partners for the expression of human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (hG-CSF), the solubility of hG-CSF was dramatically enhanced in E. coli cytoplasm, whereas almost all of the directly expressed hG-CSF were aggregated to inclusion bodies. In addition, the spectra of circular dichroism measured with the purified hG-CSF were identical to that of standard hG-CSF, implying that the synthesized hG-CSF has native conformation. These results indicate that the bacterial stress-responsive proteins could be potent fusion expression partners for aggregation-prone heterologous proteins in E. coli cytoplasm.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Circular Dichroism / methods
  • Disulfides / pharmacology*
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects*
  • Escherichia coli Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Ethanol / analogs & derivatives*
  • Ethanol / pharmacology
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / biosynthesis*
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / chemistry
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / genetics
  • Humans
  • Oxidants / pharmacology*
  • Protein Conformation
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Solubility

Substances

  • Disulfides
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • Oxidants
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor
  • Ethanol
  • 2-hydroxyethyl disulfide