Development of a rapid high-efficiency scalable process for acetylated Sus scrofa cationic trypsin production from Escherichia coli inclusion bodies

Abstract

Trypsin is one of the most important enzymatic tools in proteomics and biopharmaceutical studies. Here, we describe the complete recombinant expression and purification from a trypsinogen expression vector construct. The Sus scrofa cationic trypsin gene with a propeptide sequence was optimized according to Escherichia coli codon-usage bias and chemically synthesized. The gene was inserted into pET-11c plasmid to yield an expression vector. Using high-density E. coli fed-batch fermentation, trypsinogen was expressed in inclusion bodies at 1.47g/L. The inclusion body was refolded with a high yield of 36%. The purified trypsinogen was then activated to produce trypsin. To address stability problems, the trypsin thus produced was acetylated. The final product was generated upon gel filtration. The final yield of acetylated trypsin was 182mg/L from a 5-L fermenter. Our acetylated trypsin product demonstrated higher BAEE activity (30,100BAEEunit/mg) than a commercial product (9500BAEEunit/mg, Promega). It also demonstrated resistance to autolysis. This is the first report of production of acetylated recombinant trypsin that is stable and suitable for scale-up.