Expression of the rabies virus nucleoprotein and matrix protein in a prokaryotic system at high-levels: An efficacious production method

Abstract

Rabies virus (RABV) causes a zoonotic and fatal infectious disease among all warm-blooded animals including humans that continues to give a great burden on public health and the global economy especially in developing countries such as Iran. In this study, we describe a convenient and low-cost system to express the nucleoprotein (NP) and matrix protein (MP) of rabies virus. NP gene (Pasteur virus (PV) strain) and MP gene (challenge virus standard (CVS) strain) were amplified and cloned into pET28a expression vector separately. Then both genes were expressed in Escherichia coli, Rosetta strain, after induction with IPTG. Expression of the proteins was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and western blot. NP and MP were purified by Anti His Tag Column chromatography. Our results indicated the N and M genes had been successfully cloned into the expression vector and verified purification of recombinant NP and MP as 53 and 27 kDa proteins. This study showed that the NP and MP of the rabies virus can be expressed in a reproducible prokaryotic expression system using the pET28a expression vector. NP and MP can be used in vaccine production and research fields.