Factors influencing excretive production of human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) with recombinant Escherichia coli K12 system

Abstract

Human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) was expressed and excreted into culture medium in an excretory recombinant Escherichia coli system. Conditions for the production of hEGF in this system were investigated. Results showed that the slight reduction of promoter strength improved the stability of plasmid and the production of hEGF in this recombinant system. One favorable MMBL medium for hEGF production was formulated by evaluating the effects of medium components, ampicilin addition and pH. hEGF production was affected obviously by culture conditions, especially fermentation temperature. High temperature (32 °C) was very beneficial for culture process by increasing productivity and reducing the quantity of isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) for sufficient induction. High cell density and hEGF productivity could be accomplished concomitantly by inducing the culture at middle or late log phase of cell growth. In comparison with the batch process, fed-batch cultivation could improve plasmid stability from ca. 72% to ca. 83%, and increased hEGF productivity by 24.4%. Under all these circumstances, almost all expressed hEGF (≥95%) was fully excreted into the culture medium.