Alkaline Phosphatase Signal Sequence Research Articles

Comparison of the Expression of Native and Mutant Bovine Annexin IV in Escherichia coli Using Four Different Expression Systems

Bovine annexin IV, a Ca 2+-dependent, membrane-binding protein, was expressed in E. coli using four different prokaryotic expression vector systems. An annexim IV cDNA was mutated in the 5′ noncoding region to introduce an NcoI restriction site at the translation initiation site. The coding sequence was then excised and ligated into the expression vectors: pKK238-2 (which uses a hybrid trc promoter), pFOG405 (which uses the alkaline phosphatase promoter and generates a fusion protein with the alkaline phosphatase signal sequence that targets the protein for secretion), pOTSNco12 (which provides temperature-sensitive expression from the λ phage promoter), and pET11d (which uses the T7lac promoter and a protease-deficient host). Expression of wild type and mutant annexin TV in the various systems was compared, Differences in level of expression, formation of inclusion bodies, and yield of purified protein were observed. The pET11d system was found to be the most effective expression system for annexin IV and various annexim IV mutant constructs, providing the highest yield of functional protein from the soluble fraction of cell lysates. Bovine chromaffin granule binding and aggregating activities of recombinant annexin IV were found to be virtually indistinguishable from those of bovine annexin IV isolated from liver tissue. Truncation constructs containing one, two, or three of the four conserved 70-amino-acid domains of native annexin IV were successfully created and expressed in E. coli, but the recombinant proteins were generally insoluble. pET11d annexin constructs containing point mutations in residues involved in binding calcium produced soluble protein at levels comparable to those of constructs expressing wild type protein.

Bacterial secretion of the Fab fragment of a mouse monoclonal IgM that reacts with IgG variable regions.

In this report, we describe the expression system that enabled us to produce in Escherichia coli the Fab fragment of a mouse IgM that has previously been shown to inhibit the binding of IgG to autoantigens by interacting with their variable regions. In our system, both light chain and heavy chain fragments were put under the control of the malE promoter. The light chain was fused to the MalE signal sequence, while the heavy chain variable and first constant region were fused to the alkaline phosphatase signal sequence. In this system, after induction of the promoter with maltose, the Fab fragment could be detected in a periplasmic extract of the bacteria by Western blotting and also by ELISA. This Fab fragment was purified on a goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin immunoadsorbent and biotinylated. The Fab fragment produced by E.coli reacted with the trinitrophenyl (TNP) hapten and F(ab')2 fragments of mouse IgG and these reactivities could be specifically inhibited by the corresponding soluble antigens. The dissociation constants of this Fab were 1.65 x 10(-6) M for TNP and 5 x 10(-6) M for IgG F(ab')2 fragments, indicating that the affinity of the Fab fragment compared with that of the whole IgM molecule was similar for TNP but was lower for IgG F(ab')2 fragments.

Secretion of thermostable DNA polymerase using a novel baculovirus vector.

Baculovirus-mediated expression has become a powerful tool for the high yield production of functionally active recombinant proteins. In order to further enhance the utility of this expression system, we constructed versatile transfer vectors that facilitate the secretion of recombinant proteins from host insect cells by inserting functional secretory leader sequences down-stream of the polyhedrin promoter. In-frame insertion of cDNA sequences results in the synthesis of fusion proteins containing a heterologous signal sequence which directs the recombinant protein to the secretory pathway. Human and insect leader sequences were successfully tested with a number of proteins including the thermostable Pyrococcus furiousus (Pfu) DNA polymerase in an effort to maximize secretion of heterologous proteins from insect cells. The human placental alkaline phosphatase signal sequence (MLGPCMLLLLLLLGLRLQLSLG) proved to be optimal for the secretion of not only this thermostable bacterial enzyme but also for the secretion of other biologically active polypeptides.

Processing of chimeric mammalian cytochrome b5 precursors in Escherichia coli: reaction specificity of signal peptidase and identification of an aminopeptidase in post-translocational processing.

A chimeric precursor interlinked by an arginine residue between the full-length signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase and the eukaryotic cytoplasmic cytochrome b5 was constructed. Expression of the chimeric precursor protein in Escherichia coli resulted in efficient export of spectrally authentic cytochrome b5 into the periplasm [Karim, Harding, Evans, Kaderbhai and Kaderbhai (1993) Bio/Technology 11, 612-618]. On sequencing, the apparent absence of arginine at the N-terminus of the secreted cytochrome b5 implied that the chimera was either miscleaved by signal peptidase or further processed following signal excision by an uncharacterized peptidase. The influence of the N-terminal region of cytochrome b5 on the unusual processing of the chimeric precursor was investigated by engineering a number of variant forms in which the region between Arg+1 and the mature portion of cytochrome b5 was extended and varied. Observations of the in vivo processed patterns of these variant cytochrome b5 forms exported into the periplasm revealed that the absence of arginine was due to neither miscleavage of the translocated precursor by the signal peptidase nor the nature of the early region of cytochrome b5. In fact, the selective excision of the arginine residue occurred subsequent to signal sequence deletion by an aminopeptidase which was sensitive to the metal chelator o-phenanthroline. We show that this aminopeptidase also participates in the trimming of the N-terminal arginine residue of the bacterial alkaline phosphatase to generate the three isoenzymes in the periplasm.

Analysis of the haemolysin transport process through the secretion from Escherichia coli of PCM, CAT or β‐galactosidase fused to the Hly C‐terminal signal domain

Secretion of haemolysin (HlyA) is secA independent, but depends upon two accessory membrane proteins, HlyB and HlyD, encoded by the hly determinant. A fourth (cytoplasmic) protein, HlyC, is required to activate HlyA post-translationally, but has no role in export. Deletion studies have previously shown that the HlyA molecule contains a targeting signal close to the C-terminus which specifically directs its secretion to the medium. This targeting signal has been variously located within the terminal 27, 53, 60 or 113 amino acids. In this paper, we have sought to confirm the presence of a C-terminal targeting signal and to analyse the specificity of the Hly transport system through fusion of C-terminal fragments of HlyA to heterologous polypeptides. A C-terminal fragment (23 kDa) of HlyA, when fused at the C-terminus, efficiently promoted the secretion of the eukaryotic protein prochymosin (PCM) to the medium via HlyB and HlyD. This result is in contrast to previous findings that prochymosin, preceded by the alkaline phosphatase signal sequence, cannot be translocated across the Escherichia coli inner membrane. The HlyA targeting domain was also used to secrete to the medium varying portions of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) and 98 per cent of the beta-galactosidase (LacZ) molecule (both E. coli cytoplasmic proteins). In the case of the PCM and CAT fusions the efficiency of secretion was reduced as the proportion of the PCM and CAT molecule increased. This result is consistent with inhibition of secretion through the irreversible folding of the larger passenger protein fragments, or the occlusion of the HlyA targeting signal by upstream sequences. Analysis of the nature of the C-terminal domain promoting secretion of prochymosin, demonstrated that shortening the signal domain from 218 to 113 amino acids significantly reduced the efficiency of secretion. This result may also reflect the importance of maintaining an independently folded signal motif well separated from a passenger domain.

Production and secretion in Escherichia coli of hepatitis B virus pre-S2 antigen as fusion proteins with beta-lactamase

The diagnostically important surface antigen pre-S2 of hepatitis B virus was produced in large amounts in the periplasmic space of Escherichia coli. The DNA fragments (pre-S2) coding the pre-S2 antigen were tandemly duplicated or triplicated and ligated in the same reading frame to a fragment containing the promoter and the signal sequence of the alkaline phosphatase-coding gene (phoA) of E. coli. Further, a DNA fragment (bla) coding mature beta-lactamase was joined to the region coding the C terminus of the pre-S2 repeat to stabilize the gene product. Upon induction of the phoA-(pre-S2)3-bla fusion gene, the fusion protein was produced at up to 30% of the total cellular protein. Fractionation of the cellular components and trypsin accessibility of the product showed that the antigen was secreted in the periplasm and formed inclusion bodies there. The signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase was found to be correctly processed in E. coli.

Overproduction, purification and crystallization of TaqI restriction endonuclease

Under phoA promoter control, TaqI endonuclease was overproduced to 5% of Escherichia coli cellular proteins. This was achieved by fusing the endonuclease gene to the first four codons of the alkaline phosphatase signal sequence. For maximal overproduction (30% of cellular proteins), a putative 14-bp hairpin within the endonuclease coding sequence was replaced with degenerate codons. In addition, TaqI methylase was required to protect host DNA. The endonuclease was purified in sufficient amounts for crystallization.

A functional decaisoleucine-containing signal sequence. Construction by cassette mutagenesis.

An alkaline phosphatase signal sequence optimized for formation of a hydrophobic alpha-helix functions very efficiently in the transport process. This mutant contained a core region comprised of 9 consecutive leucine residues (Kendall, D. A., Bock, S. C., and Kaiser, E. T. (1986) Nature 321, 706-708). We have now constructed a second mutant containing a decaisoleucine core region. Isoleucine was chosen because it is an isomer of leucine with comparable hydrophobicity but in synthetic peptides isoleucine favors beta-sheet formation. Surprisingly, this mutant precursor was also processed efficiently, and mature alkaline phosphatase was correctly targeted to the Escherichia coli periplasm. Since the effective length of a beta-strand is extended relative to an alpha-helix, conformational differences should be mirrored by the relative effectiveness of shortened polyisoleucine and polyleucine core regions. However, analysis of two additional mutants containing truncated segments of either polyleucine or polyisoleucine did not reveal any differences and both accumulate as precursors. We conclude that these mutants do not adopt critically different structures. This comparative analysis was facilitated by construction of a new plasmid, CASS3. This plasmid contains unique restriction sites flanking the DNA region coding for the signal sequence hydrophobic core segment. Consequently, the wild type core-encoding region can be readily replaced with synthetic oligonucleotides coding for new structural units and multiple amino acid substitutions can be made without the need for step-wise mutagenesis.

Expression of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens extracellular ribonuclease (barnase) in Escherichia coli following an inactivating mutation

An inactivated gene for Bacillus amyloliquefaciens extracellular ribonuclease (bamase) has previously been cloned and sequenced following transposon mutagenesis. The intact gene could not be assembled in Escherichia coli and is presumed to be lethal. Therefore, we introduced specific mutations into the bamase gene to prevent its lethal effect. A Gln-73 mutant gene was stable in E. coli but only produced low amounts of bamase antigen. Mutants containing Asp, Gln or Arg, instead of His-102, at the active site were identified by immunological screening for bamase antigen. None of the mutant proteins with alterations at aa residue 102 possessed RNase activity. The level of bamase (Asp-102) was higher in E. coli than in B. subtilis but the protein was not processed to the correct size in E. coli. To obtain correct processing, the bamase (Asp-102) structural gene was fused to the E. coli alkaline phosphatase promoter and signal sequence ( phoA). Cells containing this construct secreted correctly processed bamase (Asp-102) into the periplasmic space and culture supernatant at a level of 20 mg/1. Bamase (Asp-102) was purified and found to have an identical N-terminus and a thermal unfolding curve that was nearly identical to that of active bamase (His-102). The cloning and expression of bamase in E. coli will allow detailed analysis of bamase protein folding by molecular genetic approaches.

Expression, secretion and processing of hirudin in E. coli using the alkaline phosphatase signal sequence

A DNA fragment coding for the E. coli phoA signal peptide was synthesized and inserted into the expression vector pKK223-3. A single HindIII restriction site is located just at the end of the signal sequence. A gene coding for the proteinase inhibitor hirudin, which has previously been synthesized, was inserted into this HindIII site. The hybrid protein was expressed under control of the tac-promoter and secreted into the periplasm of E. coli. From the periplasmic fraction two processed proteins were isolated. One of these was identical with desulfatohirudin and also had similar biological properties.

Export defect adjacent to the processing site of staphylococcal nuclease is suppressed by a prlA mutation.

Plasmids have been constructed in which the Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase promoter and signal sequence have been fused to the staphylococcal nuclease gene to promote the high-level expression and secretion of this gene product in E. coli. We determined that the first amino acid residue after the signal sequence can determine whether this protein was processed and exported to the periplasmic space. Fractionation and protease accessibility studies were used to show that the export-defective, nuclease precursor is internal to the cytoplasmic membrane barrier of the cell. Furthermore, this export defect was suppressed in a strain containing a prlA mutation. These findings are novel in that this region of the polypeptide chain has been implicated in processing but not export and that prlA mutations have not been previously known to suppress such defects.

Periplasmic production of correctly processed human growth hormone in Escherichia coli: natural and bacterial signal sequences are interchangeable

We have studied the synthesis, secretion, and processing of human growth hormone (hGH) in Escherichia coli transformed with plasmids engineered for the expression of hGH as a secreted product. In one plasmid, pPreHGH207-2, the coding sequence of the natural hGH precursor (pre-hGH) is placed under the control of the E. coli trp promoter. In a second plasmid, pAPH-1, a DNA fragment containing the E. coli alkaline phosphatase promoter and signal sequence codons is fused to the mature hGH coding sequence (pho-hGH). Most of the hGH was present in the osmotic shock fluids of E. coli cells containing either plasmid, indicating transport to the periplasmic space. Amino acid sequencing of the N termini of the pre-hGH and pho-hGH gene products revealed that both were processed correctly. Electrophoretic analysis of these polypeptides on reducing and nonreducing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide (PA) gels indicates that periplasmic hGH is monomeric and contains the same two disulfide bonds as authentic hGH.

Mutations that alter the signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase in Escherichia coli.

A phoA-lacZ gene fusion was used to isolate mutants altered in the alkaline phosphatase signal sequence. This was done by selecting Lac+ mutants from a phoA-lacZ fusion strain that produces a membrane-bound hybrid protein and is unable to grow on lactose. Two such mutant derivatives were characterized. The mutations lie within the phoA portion of the fused gene and cause internalization of the hybrid protein. When the mutations were genetically recombined into an otherwise wild-type phoA gene, they interfered with export of alkaline phosphatase to the periplasm. The mutant alkaline phosphatase protein was found instead in the cytoplasm in precursor form. DNA sequence analysis demonstrated that both mutations lead to amino acid alterations in the signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase.

Signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase of Escherichia coli

The amino acid sequence of the signal sequence of phoA was determined by DNA sequencing by using the dideoxy chain termination technique (Sanger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74:5463-5467, 1977). The template used was single-stranded DNA obtained from M13 on f1 phage derivatives carrying phoA, constructed by in vitro recombination. The results confirm the sequence of the first five amino acids determined by Sarthy et al. (J. Bacteriol. 139:932-939, 1979) and extend the sequence in the same reading frame into the amino terminal region of the mature alkaline phosphatase (Bradshaw et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 78:3473-3477, 1981). As was predicted (Inouye and Beckwith, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74:1440-1444, 1977), the signal sequence was highly hydrophobic. The alteration of DNA sequence was identified for a promoter mutation that results in the expression of phoA independent of the positive control gene phoB and in insensitivity to high phosphate.

Use of gene fusions to determine a partial signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase.

We have isolated strains of Escherichia coli in which an amino-terminal portion of the cytoplasmic enzyme beta-galactosidase is replaced by an amino-terminal portion of the periplasmic enzyme alkaline phosphatase. The synthesis of these hybrid proteins is regulated by inorganic phosphate and they are located in the cytoplasm. One of these proteins was purified, and 14 amino acids of the amino-terminal sequence were determined. The first five amino acids, Met-Lys-Gln-Ser-Thr, appear to represent a portion of the signal sequence of the precursor of alkaline phosphatase, and the remaining sequence corresponds to that of beta-galactosidase, beginning at amino acid residue 20. The approach described here could be used for the analysis of signal sequences of exported proteins and for partial amino acid sequence determination of certain of certain other proteins.