Generic placeholder image

Protein & Peptide Letters

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 0929-8665
ISSN (Online): 1875-5305

Research Article

Soluble Expression, One-Step Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Fused with ompA3 in Escherichia coli

Author(s): Zhen-Ru Zhou, Wei Huang, Kang-Jia Liu, Fo-Lan Lin, Xiao-Lu Wang, Feng Wang and Ren-Wang Jiang*

Volume 28, Issue 5, 2021

Published on: 10 November, 2020

Page: [533 - 542] Pages: 10

DOI: 10.2174/0929866527666201110123426

Price: $65

Abstract

Background: Human growth hormone (hGH) is the first recombinant protein approved for the treatment of human growth hormone deficiency. However, expression in inclusion bodies and low expression levels are enormous challenges for heterologous expression of hGH in Escherichia coli.

Objective: To increase the soluble expression of recombinant hGH with correct folding in E. coli.

Methods: We constructed a new recombinant expression plasmid containing the coding sequence of the outer membrane protein A (ompA3) which was used for the expression in Transetta (DE3) E. coli. In order to simplify the purification process and cleavage of recombinant proteins, the fusion sequence should contain hexahistidine-tag (His6) and enterokinase recognition sites (D4K). The effect of different expression conditions on recombinant hGH expression was optimized in flask cultivations. Furthermore, the periplasmic solution containing soluble hGH was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. Circular dichroism (CD), western blot and mass spectrometry analyses were used to characterize the protein. Moreover, the growth-promoting effect of the purified hGH was also evaluated by cell proliferation assay.

Results: High-level expression (800 μg/mL) was achieved by induction with 0.5 mM IPTG at 30°C for 10 hours. The purity of hGH was over 90%. The immunological activity, secondary structure and molecular weight of the purified hGH were consistent with native hGH. The purified hGH was found to promote the growth of MC3T3-E1 cells, and was found to show the highest activity at a concentration of 100 ng/mL.

Conclusion: Our research provides a feasible and convenient method for the soluble expression of recombinant hGH in E. coli, and may lay a foundation for the production and application of hGH in the industry.

Keywords: Human growth hormone, ompA3, soluble expression, Escherichia coli, purification, growth-promoting effect.

Graphical Abstract
[1]
Tritos, N.A. Focus on growth hormone deficiency and bone in adults. Best Pract. Res. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 2017, 31(1), 49-57.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beem.2017.02.002] [PMID: 28477732]
[2]
Azimi, M.; Khodabandeh, M.; Deezagi, A.; Rahimi, F. Impact of the transfersome delivered human growth hormone on the dermal fibroblast cells. Curr. Pharm. Biotechnol., 2019, 20(14), 1194-1202.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389201020666190809120333] [PMID: 31400264]
[3]
Mandell, S.P.; Gibran, N.S. Early enteral nutrition for burn injury. Adv. Wound Care (New Rochelle), 2014, 3(1), 64-70.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/wound.2012.0382] [PMID: 24761346]
[4]
Lee, J.Y.; Kang, S.K.; Li, H.S.; Choi, C.Y.; Park, T.E.; Bok, J.D.; Lee, S.H.; Cho, C.S.; Choi, Y.J. Production of recombinant human growth hormone conjugated with a transcytotic peptide in Pichia pastoris for effective oral protein delivery. Mol. Biotechnol., 2015, 57(5), 430-438.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12033-014-9835-0] [PMID: 25555377]
[5]
Zhou, H.; Chen, Z.; Chen, H.; Li, S.; Huang, B.; Bi, R. Co-expression and purification of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor II and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-6 in Pichia pastoris yeast. Protein Pept. Lett., 2007, 14(9), 876-880.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/092986607782110329] [PMID: 18045229]
[6]
Catzel, D.; Lalevski, H.; Marquis, C.P.; Gray, P.P.; Van Dyk, D.; Mahler, S.M. Purification of recombinant human growth hormone from CHO cell culture supernatant by Gradiflow preparative electrophoresis technology. Protein Expr. Purif., 2003, 32(1), 126-134.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2003.07.002] [PMID: 14680949]
[7]
Xu, J.; Okada, S.; Tan, L.; Goodrum, K.J.; Kopchick, J.J.; Kieliszewski, M.J. Human growth hormone expressed in tobacco cells as an arabinogalactan-protein fusion glycoprotein has a prolonged serum life. Transgenic Res., 2010, 19(5), 849-867.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11248-010-9367-8] [PMID: 20135224]
[8]
Roytrakul, S.; Eurwilaichitr, L.; Suprasongsin, C.; Panyim, S. A rapid and simple method for construction and expression of a synthetic human growth hormone gene in Escherichia coli. J. Biochem. Mol. Biol., 2001, 34, 502-508.
[9]
Patra, A.K.; Mukhopadhyay, R.; Mukhija, R.; Krishnan, A.; Garg, L.C.; Panda, A.K. Optimization of inclusion body solubilization and renaturation of recombinant human growth hormone from Escherichia coli. Protein Expr. Purif., 2000, 18(2), 182-192.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/prep.1999.1179] [PMID: 10686149]
[10]
Yang, Z.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, T.; Feng, Y.; Lu, X.; Lan, W.; Wang, J.; Wu, H.; Cao, C.; Wang, X. Highly efficient production of soluble proteins from insoluble inclusion bodies by a two-step-denaturing and refolding method. PLoS One, 2011, 6(7), e22981.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022981] [PMID: 21829569]
[11]
Pazhouhandeh, M.; Salmannejad, F.; Nafissi-Varcheh, N.; Tabarzad, M. The effect of arginine as an anti-aggregation excipient on recombinant human growth hormone. Trends in Peptide and Protein Sciences, 2016, 1(1), 31-37.
[12]
Doozandeh-Juibari, A.; Ghovvati, S.; Vaziri, H.R.; Sohani, M.M.; Pezeshkian, Z. Cloning, expression, purification and evaluation of the biological properties of the recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) in Escherichia coli. Int. J. Pept. Res. Ther., 2019, 1, 1-9.
[13]
Levarski, Z.; Šoltýsová, A.; Krahulec, J.; Stuchlík, S.; Turňa, J. High-level expression and purification of recombinant human growth hormone produced in soluble form in Escherichia coli. Protein Expr. Purif., 2014, 100, 40-47.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2014.05.003] [PMID: 24859479]
[14]
Kim, C.S.; Lee, E.K. Effects of operating parameters in in vitro renaturation of a fusion protein of human growth hormone and glutathione S transferase from inclusion body. Process Biochem., 2000, 36, 111-117.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0032-9592(00)00185-0]
[15]
Shin, N.K.; Kim, D.Y.; Shin, C.S.; Hong, M.S.; Lee, J.; Shin, H.C. High-level production of human growth hormone in Escherichia coli by a simple recombinant process. J. Biotechnol., 1998, 62(2), 143-151.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1656(98)00054-6] [PMID: 9706704]
[16]
Xu, J.; Zhang, X.Q. Secreted expression and purification of human growth hormone variant B2036 in Escherichia coli. Carol. J. Pharm., 2016, 47, 396-401.
[17]
Soares, C.R.; Gomide, F.I.; Ueda, E.K.; Bartolini, P. Periplasmic expression of human growth hormone via plasmid vectors containing the lambdaPL promoter: use of HPLC for product quantification. Protein Eng., 2003, 16(12), 1131-1138.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/protein/gzg114] [PMID: 14983096]
[18]
Wurm, D.J.; Veiter, L.; Ulonska, S.; Eggenreich, B.; Herwig, C.; Spadiut, O. The E. coli pET expression system revisited-mechanistic correlation between glucose and lactose uptake. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 2016, 100(20), 8721-8729.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7620-7] [PMID: 27229726]
[19]
Kleman, G.L.; Strohl, W.R. Acetate metabolism by Escherichia coli in high-cell-density fermentation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 1994, 60(11), 3952-3958.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.60.11.3952-3958.1994] [PMID: 7993084]
[20]
Farinaz, R.; Majid, M.B. High efficient prokaryotic expression and purification of bioactive human growth hormone using a cleavable self-aggregating tag. Gene Rep., 2018, 12, 128-131.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.genrep.2018.06.016]
[21]
Sockolosky, J.T.; Szoka, F.C. Periplasmic production via the pET expression system of soluble, bioactive human growth hormone. Protein Expr. Purif., 2013, 87(2), 129-135.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2012.11.002] [PMID: 23168094]
[22]
Kim, M.J.; Park, H.S.; Seo, K.H.; Yang, H.J.; Kim, S.K.; Choi, J.H. Complete solubilization and purification of recombinant human growth hormone produced in Escherichia coli. PLoS One, 2013, 8(2), e56168.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056168] [PMID: 23409149]
[23]
Agyei, D.; Ahmed, I.; Akram, Z. Protein and peptide biopharmaceuticals: An overview. Protein Pept. lett., 2017, 24(2), 94-101.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0929866523666161222150444]
[24]
Leader, B.; Baca, Q.J.; Golan, D.E. Protein therapeutics: A summary and pharmacological classification. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov., 2008, 7(1), 21-39.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrd2399] [PMID: 18097458]
[25]
Gupta, S.K.; Shukla, P. Advanced technologies for improved expression of recombinant proteins in bacteria: perspectives and applications. Crit. Rev. Biotechnol., 2016, 36(6), 1089-1098.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/07388551.2015.1084264] [PMID: 26384140]
[26]
Xie, W.; Feng, Y.E. Prediction of the disordered regions of intrinsically disordered proteins based on the molecular functions. Protein Pept. Lett., 2020, 27(4), 279-286.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0929866526666190226160629] [PMID: 30819075]
[27]
Sørensen, H.P.; Mortensen, K.K. Advanced genetic strategies for recombinant protein expression in Escherichia coli. J. Biotechnol., 2005, 115(2), 113-128.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2004.08.004] [PMID: 15607230]
[28]
Nguyen, M.T.; Koo, B.K.; Thi Vu, T.T.; Song, J-A.; Chong, S-H.; Jeong, B.; Ryu, H-B.; Moh, S-H.; Choe, H. Prokaryotic soluble overexpression and purification of bioactive human growth hormone by fusion to thioredoxin, maltose binding protein, and protein disulfide isomerase. PLoS One, 2014, 9(3), e89038.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089038] [PMID: 24614134]

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy