Bacterioferritin, an iron storage protein having a 24-subunit quaternary structure, was used as a model for the study of host-guest interactions and guest encapsulation, making use of its spherical cage-like structure. A hexahistidine-affinity tag fused to the C-terminus of each bacterioferritin subunit was constructed. The C-terminus of each subunit points toward the inside of the cavity, while the N-terminus is exposed on the surface of the protein. The hexaHistag was able to form strong interactions with a nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid linked dye molecule (guest) and this interaction was used in attempts to develop a principle to control guest molecule encapsulation within the spherical cavity of the 24-mer bacterioferritin protein molecule. The procedure involved (1) subunit dissociation under acidic pH, (2) affinity controlled dye-Histag binding with exposed C-terminal hexahistidine residues and (3) reassociation of the subunits at neutral pH. The encapsulation conditions involving step 1 and 3 were studied preliminarily using laser light scattering to measure size (hydrodynamic radius) of the protein particle with apoferritin as a model system as it resembles the size and structure of bacterioferritin. In order to encapsulate guest molecules, the emptied shell of bacterioferritin was generated by site-directed mutagenesis resulting in ferroxidase- as well as heme-free bacterioferritin mutants (E18A/M52L/E94A), and these mutants were used to examine protein stability before conducting encapsulation experiments. However, wild-type bacterioferritin possessed highest stability in maintaining its multisubunit structure; hence, it was used for the encapsulation studies. It was found that 100% bacterioferritin with hexahistidine tag at the C-terminus, and a combination of 60% bacterioferritin with hexahistidine tag at the C-terminus and 40% bacterioferritin without hexahistidine tag at the C-terminus yielded similar amounts of encapsulated guest molecules. This suggested that all hexahistidine at the C-terminus were not equally available for dye molecule binding.

Bacterioferritin, an iron storage protein having a 24-subunit quaternary structure, was used as a model for the study of host-guest interactions and guest encapsulation, making use of its spherical cage-like structure. A hexahistidine-affinity tag fused to the C-terminus of each bacterioferritin subunit was constructed. The C-terminus of each subunit points toward the inside of the cavity, while the N-terminus is exposed on the surface of the protein. The hexaHistag was able to form strong interactions with a nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid linked dye molecule (guest) and this interaction was used in attempts to develop a principle to control guest molecule encapsulation within the spherical cavity of the 24-mer bacterioferritin protein molecule. The procedure involved (1) subunit dissociation under acidic pH, (2) affinity controlled dye-Histag binding with exposed C-terminal hexahistidine residues and (3) reassociation of the subunits at neutral pH. The encapsulation conditions involving step 1 and 3 were studied preliminarily using laser light scattering to measure size (hydrodynamic radius) of the protein particle with apoferritin as a model system as it resembles the size and structure of bacterioferritin. In order to encapsulate guest molecules, the emptied shell of bacterioferritin was generated by site-directed mutagenesis resulting in ferroxidase- as well as heme-free bacterioferritin mutants (E18A/M52L/E94A), and these mutants were used to examine protein stability before conducting encapsulation experiments. However, wild-type bacterioferritin possessed highest stability in maintaining its multisubunit structure; hence, it was used for the encapsulation studies. It was found that 100% bacterioferritin with hexahistidine tag at the C-terminus, and a combination of 60% bacterioferritin with hexahistidine tag at the C-terminus and 40% bacterioferritin without hexahistidine tag at the C-terminus yielded similar amounts of encapsulated guest molecules. This suggested that all hexahistidine at the C-terminus were not equally available for dye molecule binding.

Drug resistant strains of Clostridium difficile are a major health concern with over 3 million cases costing over 1 billion $ per year in the United-States. The diseases associated with these bacteria (CDAD) are toxin-mediated which offers a mean of treating and lessening the severity of CDAD symptoms. Toxin inactivation via antibodies therapy can drastically reduce CDAD morbidity and this project was aiming at investigating the large-scale production and recovery of a novel llama single domain antibody (pSJF2H-ToxA5.1) in recombinant Escherichia coli TG1 targeting C. difficile enterotoxin A (TcdA). In order to achieve these objectives, the project was divided into four segments: 1) ToxA5.1 being an intracellular recombinant protein, obtaining a high biomass production was the first step towards large-scale production. To achieve HCDC, effects of initial glucose concentration and pH-stat feeding strategy were studied; 2) Upon achieving HCDC, effects of parameters such as temperature, induction timing and media supplementation with complex nitrogen sources were investigated; 3) Once large-scale production of ToxA5.1 was obtained, the recombinant protein needed to be recovered and a selective cell lysis scheme where synergistic lysis effects of Triton X-100 and temperature were studied. And finally 4) Single-step purification using nickel nanoparticles (NNP) synthesized via a modified polyol method was studied. Combining the HCDC strategy with a temperature shift and yeast extract addition at the time of induction, ToxA5.1 concentration of 127 mg/L was obtained. Synergistic and selective cell lysis using Triton X-100 and temperature was achieved where 95% of the available ToxA5.1 was recovered and still functional while ToxA5.1 fraction in the resulting lysate increased to 27% in the cell lysate. Single-step purification was achieved using the synthesized NNP which proved to be highly selective and could be used up to five times. Diameter of the NNP synthesized was controlled by using various concentration of ranging from 131 ± 80 nm to 47 ± 20 nm. Using experimental data from binding isotherm, the ToxA5.1-NNP system was modeled.

Drug resistant strains of Clostridium difficile are a major health concern with over 3 million cases costing over 1 billion $ per year in the United-States. The diseases associated with these bacteria (CDAD) are toxin-mediated which offers a mean of treating and lessening the severity of CDAD symptoms. Toxin inactivation via antibodies therapy can drastically reduce CDAD morbidity and this project was aiming at investigating the large-scale production and recovery of a novel llama single domain antibody (pSJF2H-ToxA5.1) in recombinant Escherichia coli TG1 targeting C. difficile enterotoxin A (TcdA). In order to achieve these objectives, the project was divided into four segments: 1) ToxA5.1 being an intracellular recombinant protein, obtaining a high biomass production was the first step towards large-scale production. To achieve HCDC, effects of initial glucose concentration and pH-stat feeding strategy were studied; 2) Upon achieving HCDC, effects of parameters such as temperature, induction timing and media supplementation with complex nitrogen sources were investigated; 3) Once large-scale production of ToxA5.1 was obtained, the recombinant protein needed to be recovered and a selective cell lysis scheme where synergistic lysis effects of Triton X-100 and temperature were studied. And finally 4) Single-step purification using nickel nanoparticles (NNP) synthesized via a modified polyol method was studied. Combining the HCDC strategy with a temperature shift and yeast extract addition at the time of induction, ToxA5.1 concentration of 127 mg/L was obtained. Synergistic and selective cell lysis using Triton X-100 and temperature was achieved where 95% of the available ToxA5.1 was recovered and still functional while ToxA5.1 fraction in the resulting lysate increased to 27% in the cell lysate. Single-step purification was achieved using the synthesized NNP which proved to be highly selective and could be used up to five times. Diameter of the NNP synthesized was controlled by using various concentration of ranging from 131 ± 80 nm to 47 ± 20 nm. Using experimental data from binding isotherm, the ToxA5.1-NNP system was modeled.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第25357号 / 農博第2623号 / 京都大学大学院農学研究科食品生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 保川 清, 教授 井上 和生, 教授 谷 史人 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

Le gène de l’entérotoxine thermostable b (estB) d’Escherichia coli a été fusionné au gène de la protéine liant le maltose (malE) dans le vecteur pMAL-p via PCR. Par la suite, deux constructions plasmidiques ont été realisées à partir de ce nouveau vecteur, nommé pMAL-STb. Dans un premier temps, un marqueur hexahistidine (His6) a été ajouté entre malE et estB, et dans un deuxième temps, un marqueur décahistidine (His10) a été placé en amont de malE. La séquence signal de la protéine liant le maltose (MBP) dirige l’exportation de la protéine de fusion du cytoplasme vers le périplasme, où l’entérotoxine STb acquière sa conformation active. MBP est également reconnue pour améliorer le rendement et la solubilité de la protéine passagère tandis que le marqueur histidine, connu comme étant le meilleur marqueur d’affinité pour la purification protéique, facilite sa purification jusqu’à homogénéité. De plus, les gènes fusionnés sont sous le contrôle du promoteur tac (Ptac), un promoteur fort et inductible. Suite à l’induction par l’IPTG, la souche recombinante exprime une protéine d’environ 48 kDa, qui est facilement identifiable par électrophorèse à partir du surnageant obtenu via choc osmotique. Une séquence encodant un site de clivage spécifique au facteur Xa est présente dans le plasmide afin de séparer les marqueurs MBP et histidine de STb. Le clivage de la protéine de fusion avec le facteur Xa libère MBP (42 kDa) attachée au marqueur histidine et un polypeptide de 5.2 kDa, correspondant au poids moléculaire de STb mature. Avec cette méthode, nous visons à obtenir une méthode plus efficace pour la production et la purification de STb. / The heat-stable enterotoxin b gene (estB) of Escherichia coli was fused to the gene for maltose-binding protein (malE) into the pMAL-p vector using PCR. Afterward, two plasmid constructs were realized from this new vector, named pMAL-STb. Firstly, a hexahistidine tag (His6) was added between malE and estB and secondly, a decahistidine tag (His10) was placed upstream of malE. The signal sequence of maltose-binding protein (MBP) directs the export of the fusion protein from the cytoplasm to the periplasm, where the enterotoxin STb acquires its active conformation. MBP is also known to improve the yield and solubility of the passenger protein while the histidine tag, viewed as the best affinity tag for protein purification, facilitates its purification to homogeneity. Furthermore, the fused genes are controlled by the tac promoter (Ptac), a strong inducible promoter. Following IPTG induction, the recombinant strain expressed a protein of approximately 48 kDa, which is easily identified from osmotic shock fluid following electrophoresis. A sequence encoding a factor Xa cleavage site is present in the plasmid to separate MBP and histidine tags from STb. The cleavage of the fusion protein with factor Xa generates the maltose-binding protein (42 kDa) attached to the histidine tag and a polypeptide of 5.2 kDa, corresponding to the molecular mass of mature STb. With this method, we aim at obtaining a more efficient way to produce and purify STb.