A basic polypeptide L2 (252-273) derived from Escherichia coli ribosomal protein L2 was used as a purification tag. In order to develop faster, less expensive methods for expression and purification of proteins, the L2 (252-273)-small ubiquitin like modifier (SUMO) fusion expression system was constructed. We comparatively analyzed the adsorption properties of the deleted protein of L2 (L2 (252-273)) on diatomite and superparamagnetic carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles. The time required to reach adsorption equilibrium of L2 (252-273) fusion protein on diatomite was shorter than that of L2 (252-273) fusion protein on magnetic particles. The maximum adsorption capacity of L2 (252-273) fusion protein on magnetic particles was about 5 times larger than that of L2 (252-273) fusion protein on diatomite. SUMO was introduced as a specific protease cleavage site between the target protein and the purification tags. The enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a model protein was fused with the L2 (252-273)-SUMO fusion protein and purified by a simple method which involves the electrostatic adsorption of L2 (252-273) fusion proteins on superparamagnetic carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles and the L2 (252-273)-SUMO fusion partner was removed based on the robust cleavage by the poly lysine tagged SUMO protease. The high purity of tag-free EGFP (>93%) was obtained. Our results preliminary proved that the system was an effective fusion expression system for the production of recombinant proteins in E. coli.
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