Recombinant C9 Research Articles

Cloning, expression profile of the complement component C9 gene and influence of the recombinant C9 protein on peripheral mononuclear leukocytes transcriptome in half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)

The ninth complement component (C9) is a terminal complement component (TCC) that is involved in creating the membrane attack complex (MAC) on the target cell surface. In this study, the CsC9 (C9 of Cynoglossus semilaevis) cDNA sequence was cloned and characterized. The full-length CsC9 cDNA measured 2,150 bp, containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,803 bp, a 5′-untranslated region (UTR) of 24 bp and a 3′-UTR of 323 bp. A domain search revealed that the CsC9 protein contains five domains, including two TSP1s, an LDLRA, an EGF, and a MACPF. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that CsC9 at the mRNA level was expressed in all the tested tissues, with the highest expression being observed in the liver. CsC9 expression is significantly upregulated in the tested tissues after challenge with Vibrio anguillarum. To further characterize the role of CsC9, peripheral blood mononuclear cells of C. semilaevis were used for transcriptome analysis after incubation with recombinant CsC9 (rCsC9) protein. A total of 3,775 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the control and the rCsC9-treated group, including 2,063 upregulated genes and 1,712 downregulated genes. KEGG analyses revealed that the DEGs were enriched in cell adhesion molecules, cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, T cell receptor signaling pathways, B cell receptor signaling pathways and Toll-like receptor signaling pathways. The results of this study indicate that in addition to participating in MAC formation, CsC9 might play multiple roles in the innate and adaptive immunity of C. semilaevis.

Phosphorylation of C8 and C9 subunits of the multicatalytic proteinase by casein kinase II and identification of the C8 phosphorylation sites by direct mutagenesis.

Two 29 kDa subunits of the multicatalytic proteinase (proteasome) complex, the C8 and C9 components, are phosphorylated in vivo and can be phosphorylated in vitro by casein kinase II (CKII). The major phosphate acceptor is the C8 subunit being phosphorylated in serine, both in vivo and in vitro. The phosphopeptides generated by Glu-C endoprotease digestion from the in vivo 29 kDa labeled subunit and from the in vitro phosphorylation of the recombinant C8 subunit with CKII are identical, suggesting that CKII is likely responsible for the in vivo phosphorylation of the C8 subunit. The in vitro stoichiometry of phosphorylation of the proteasome complex and the recombinant C9 and C8 subunits by CKII is 2-2.5, 0.2, and 2 mol of phosphate per mole, respectively. Several C8 protein constructs allow the location of the CKII phosphorylation sites to be the COOH terminal portion of the protein, and direct mutational analyses show that Ser-243 and Ser-250 are the residues of the C8 subunit phosphorylated by CKII. The in vitro phosphorylation of the proteasome by CKII does not affect its proteolytic activity (on proteins or fluorogenic synthetic peptides), therefore suggesting its involvement in the interaction of the proteasome with other cellular proteins, i.e. in the formation of the 26S complex and/or in the interaction with the nuclear translocation machinery.

Role of a disulfide-bonded peptide loop within human complement C9 in the species-selectivity of complement inhibitor CD59.

CD59 antigen is a membrane glycoprotein that inhibits the activity of the C9 component of the C5b-9 membrane attack complex (MAC), thereby protecting human cells from lysis by human complement. The complement-inhibitory activity of CD59 is species-selective, and is most effective toward C9 derived from human or other primate plasma. The species-selective activity of CD59 was recently used to map the segment of human C9 that is recognized by this MAC inhibitor, using recombinant rabbit/human C9 chimeras that retain lytic function within the MAC [Husler, T., Lockert, D. H., Kaufman, K. M., Sodetz, J. M., & Sims, P. J. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270,3483-3486]. These experiments suggested that the CD59 recognition domain was contained between residues 334 and 415 in human C9. By analyzing the species-selective lytic activity of recombinant C9 with chimeric substitutions internal to this segment, we now demonstrate that the site in human C9 uniquely recognized by CD59 is centered on those residues contained between C9 Cys359/Cys384, with an additional contribution by residues C-terminal to this segment. Consistent with its role as a CD59 recognition domain, CD59 specifically bound a human C9-derived peptide corresponding to residues 359-384, and antibody (Fab) raised against this C9-derived peptide inhibited the lytic activity of human MAC. Mutant human C9 in which Ala was substituted for Cys359/384 was found to express normal lytic activity and to be fully inhibited by CD59. This suggests that the intrachain Cys359/Cys384 disulfide bond within C9 is not required to maintain the conformation of this segment of C9 for interaction with CD59.

Chimeric horse/human recombinant C9 proteins identify the amino acid sequence in horse C9 responsible for restriction of hemolysis.

Equine C9, in contrast to human C9, has extremely low hemolytic activity against most mammalian erythrocytes, although the amino acid sequences of both proteins show 77% identity. In an attempt to define the region of human C9 responsible for conferring its lytic activity, or conversely, the region of equine C9 responsible for its restriction, recombinant human and equine C9 and four chimeric human/equine C9 proteins were constructed and expressed in COS-7 cells. Recombinant human and equine C9 displayed hemolytic profiles similar to those of the purified native proteins. Exchange of a fragment extending from residues 145 to 290 in horse C9 with the corresponding one from human C9 created a fully hemolytic protein. This region contains the putative hinge region but not the membrane-interacting domain. Nonlytic chimeric C9 proteins inhibited hemolysis and binding of human C9 to EAC1-8 cells, indicating that they bind to their receptor, but subsequent unfolding or insertion into the membrane is impaired. These results suggest that restriction factors, such as glycophorin, CD59, or homologous restriction factor, on erythrocytes may limit the activity of horse C9 by interacting with its hinge region. In support of this conclusion direct binding of CD59 to immobilized horse C9 was detected by ligand blotting, and it was observed that a polyclonal anti-CD59 Ab enhanced human and horse C9-mediated hemolysis of human EAC1-7, but the increase in hemolytic activity of horse C9 by inhibition of CD59 was less than what could be achieved by insertion of the human C9 hinge region into horse C9.

A method for in vitro synthesis of unglycosylated recombinant complement component C9

A method for in vitro synthesis of human complement component C9 has been established in order to generate unglycosylated normal and mutant proteins without the need to sub-clone. One or two step polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to add the T7 RNA polymerase promoter and introduce multiple mutations within the cDNA. The cDNA was then transcribed by T7 RNA polymerase and the mRNA translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate or wheat germ system. Successful synthesis was confirmed by: the correct size of PCR product DNA on agarose gel electrophoresis, incorporation of [α- 32P]UTP into mRNA, and formation of [ 35S]methionine-labelled protein of the correct molecular mass for full length C9. The wheat germ extract generated up to 1.5 μg of recombinant C9. This unglycosylated C9 had at least 10% of the haemolytic activity of native C9. Unglycosylated C9 polymerised more readily than the native protein. This spontaneous polymerisation was increased by removal of the first 23 amino acids or mutating two cysteines at positions 33 and 36. This therefore provides a rapid method for screening the effect of multiple mutations on the biological activity and polymerisation of pore forming proteins.

The Expression of Hemolytically Active Human Complement Protein C9 in Mammalian, Insect, and Yeast Cells

The cDNA sequence encoding mature human C9 protein and its signal peptide was cloned into three expression vectors for expression in COS-7 (mammalian), Spodoptera frugiperda IPLB-SF-21AE (insect), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) cells. In addition, C9 cDNA encoding only the mature protein was fused to the yeast invertase leader sequence ( SUC2) and cloned for expression in yeast. Under optimal conditions COS7 and IPLB-SF-21AE cells secreted recombinant C9 (rC9) at concentrations of about 111 and 700 ng C9/ml culture supernatant, respectively. By comparison S. cerevisiae, whether transformed with C9 dNA containing its native or yeast invertase leader sequence, secreted only very small amounts of rC9 (5-10 ng/ml). However, upon lysis concentrations of up to 500 ng/mg dry wt were found in yeast cells transformed with C9 cDNA. SDS-PAGE followed by Western blot analysis revealed COS-7 cell and S. cerevisiae expressed rC9 to have a MW similar to that of native C9 purified from human serum, while rC9 from IPLB-SF-2 1AE cells was about 4 kDa smaller. No hemolytic activity of S. cerevisiae secreted rC9 could be detected and the specific hemolytic activity of S. cerevisiae intracellular rC9 was also very low. However, the specific hemolytic activities of COS-7 and IPLB-SF-21AE secreted rC9 were indistinguishable from that of purified native human C9. Thus, for future studies on the structure and function of C9 where the production of large quantities of mutant protein would be desirable, the baculovirus-insect cell expression system appears to offer considerable advantages.