U.S. patent application number 11/407336 was filed with the patent office on 2008-07-17 for compositions and methods for fusion protein separation.
This patent application is currently assigned to ViroMed Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Jong-Mook Kim, Sujeong Kim, Song Shan Xu.
Application Number | 20080171852 11/407336 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37452418 |
Filed Date | 2008-07-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080171852 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
Kim; Sujeong ; et
al. |
July 17, 2008 |
Compositions and methods for fusion protein separation
Abstract
The present invention relates to compositions and methods for
fusion protein separation utilizing a peptide linker comprising a
novel thrombin cleavage site.
Inventors: |
Kim; Sujeong; (Seoul,
KR) ; Kim; Jong-Mook; (Seoul, KR) ; Xu; Song
Shan; (Beijing, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STERNE, KESSLER, GOLDSTEIN & FOX P.L.L.C.
1100 NEW YORK AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Assignee: |
ViroMed Co., Ltd.
|
Prior
Publication: |
|
Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20060276625 A1 |
December 7, 2006 |
|
|
Family ID: |
37452418 |
Appl. No.: |
11/407336 |
Filed: |
April 20, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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60672879 |
Apr 20, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
530/328 ;
530/329; 530/330 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C07K 2319/00 20130101;
C07K 14/5412 20130101; C07K 14/57581 20130101; C07K 7/06 20130101;
C07K 14/705 20130101; C07K 7/08 20130101; C12N 15/62 20130101; C07K
14/5431 20130101; C07K 2319/01 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
530/328 ;
530/329; 530/330 |
International
Class: |
C07K 7/08 20060101
C07K007/08; C07K 7/06 20060101 C07K007/06 |
Claims
1. A peptide linker comprising the sequence: X1-X2-Ser-Pro-X3-X4-X5
wherein, X1 is two or more amino acid residues that are the same or
different from each other; X2 is a hydrophobic amino acid residue;
X3 is arginine or lysine; X4 is alanine or glycine; and X5 is a
non-acidic amino acid.
2. The peptide linker of claim 1, wherein X1 is four or more amino
acid residues.
3. The peptide linker of claim 1, wherein X1 is no more than 10
amino acid residues.
4. The peptide linker of claim 1, wherein X1 comprises proline and
arginine.
5. The peptide linker of claim 1, wherein X2 is selected from the
group consisting of glycine, alanine, proline, valine, leucine,
isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and
tryptophan.
6. The peptide linker of claim 5, wherein X2 is glycine.
7. The peptide linker of claim 1, wherein X5 is selected from the
group consisting of serine, alanine, asparagine, valine, leucine,
isoleucine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan.
8. The peptide linker of claim 7, wherein X5 is serine.
9. The peptide linker of claim 1, comprising the sequence
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7).
10. The peptide linker of claim 1, comprising the sequence
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8).
11. A fusion protein comprising a protein of interest, a fusion
partner, and a peptide linker interposed there between; said
peptide linker comprising the sequence: X1-X2-Ser-Pro-X3-X4-X5
wherein, X1 is two or more amino acid residues that are the same or
different from each other; X2 is a hydrophobic amino acid residue;
X3 is arginine or lysine; X4 is alanine or glycine; and X5 is a
non-acidic amino acid.
12. The fusion protein of claim 11, wherein said protein of
interest is selected from the group consisting of interleukin
(IL)-11, thymosin .beta.4, thymosin .alpha.1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4,
IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, IL-15, IL-18,
Protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1), PAR3, PAR4, RANTES, stromal
cell-derived factor-1.alpha., monocyte chemotactic protein, stem
cell factor, FLT-3L, parathyroid hormone, thrombopoietin, epidermal
growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth
factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor,
granulocyte colony stimulating factor, macrophage colony
stimulating factor, platelet-derived growth factor, transforming
growth factor (TGF)-.beta.1, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-.alpha.,
interferon (IFN-.alpha., IFN-.beta., IFN-.gamma., hepatocyte growth
factor, vascular endothelial growth factor and immunoglobulin heavy
chain.
13. The fusion protein of claim 12, wherein said protein of
interest is selected from the group consisting of human IL11,
thymosin .beta.4, IL-6 and PAR4.
14. The fusion protein of claim 12, wherein said protein of
interest is human IL11.
15. The fusion protein of claim 11, wherein said fusion partner is
an affinity peptide.
16. The fusion protein of claim 15, wherein said fusion partner is
selected from the group consisting of glutathione-S-transferase
(GST), maltose binding protein (MBP), hexahistidine, T7 peptide,
ubiquitin, Flag peptide, c-myc peptide, polyarginine, polycysteine,
polyphenylalanine, BTag, galactose binding domain, cellulose
binding domain (CBD), thioredoxin, staphylococcal protein A,
streptococcal protein G, calmodulin, beta-galactosidase,
chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, S-peptide, streptavidin,
His-tag, and Strep-tag.
17. The fusion protein of claim 16, wherein said fusion partner is
GST.
18. A method of separating the protein of interest from the fusion
protein of claim 11, comprising contacting the fusion protein with
a sufficient amount of thrombin such that cleavage of the peptide
linker occurs.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said fusion protein is cleaved
between X3 and X4 of the peptide linker.
20. A polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker of claim 1.
21. The polynucleotide of claim 20, wherein X2 in said peptide
linker is selected from the group consisting of glycine, alanine,
proline, valine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine,
tyrosine, and tryptophan.
22. The polynucleotide of claim 20, wherein said peptide linker
comprises the sequence Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID
NO:7).
23. The polynucleotide of claim 20, wherein said peptide linker
comprises the sequence Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ
ID NO:8).
24. A polynucleotide encoding the fusion protein of claim 11.
25. The polynucleotide of claim 24, wherein said fusion partner is
GST.
26. A vector comprising the polynucleotide of claim 24.
27. A host cell comprising the vector of claim 26.
28. A method of producing a fusion protein, comprising: a)
preparing a vector comprising a polynucleotide encoding a fusion
protein comprising a protein of interest, a fusion partner, and the
peptide linker of claim 1 interposed there between; b) delivering
said vector into a host cell; c) culturing said host cell under
conditions in which the fusion protein is expressed; and d)
separating said fusion protein.
29. A method of producing a protein of interest, comprising: a)
preparing a vector comprising a polynucleotide encoding a fusion
protein comprising said protein of interest, a fusion partner, and
the peptide linker of claim 1 interposed there between; b)
delivering said vector into a host cell; c) culturing said host
cell under conditions in which the fusion protein is expressed; d)
separating said fusion protein; e) contacting said fusion protein
with thrombin to cleave said fusion protein; and d) separating said
protein of interest.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein said separating of said fusion
protein is performed with an affinity column.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein said contacting of said fusion
protein with thrombin is performed while said fusion protein is
bound on said affinity column.
32. The method of claim 30, wherein said separating of said fusion
protein further comprises subjecting said protein of interest to
cation exchange chromatography.
33. The method of claim 30, wherein said separating of said fusion
protein further comprises subjecting said protein of interest to
anion exchange chromatography.
34. A kit comprising the vector of claim 26.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to compositions and methods
for fusion protein separation.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Expression systems utilizing fusion proteins are a
well-accepted technology for the production of recombinant
proteins. In such systems, the fusion partner facilitates the
expression and purification of the desired protein. The fusion
partner is frequently used to provide a "tag" which can facilitate
the subsequent purification of the fusion protein. However, in
order to recover the desired protein in its native form or in a
pharmaceutically acceptable form, the fusion partner must be
removed once the fusion protein is isolated. The most widely used
method to remove the fusion partner involves the use of specific
cleavage enzymes such as thrombin, factor Xa or enterokinase
(Wassenberg et al., Protein Sci. 6:1718 (1997); Schlumpberger et
al., Protein Sci. 9:440 (2000); Zaitseva et al., Protein Sci.
5:1100 (1996)). This involves the insertion of a unique amino acid
sequence that is specific for cleavage by the cleavage enzyme
between the desired protein and the fusion partner. The desired
protein can be recovered by the cleavage of the fusion protein with
the cleavage enzyme (e.g., thrombin).
[0005] Thrombin is a trypsin-like serine protease which will cleave
peptide bonds using the serine amino acid. The specificity of
thrombin has been studied by a number of investigators. The
previously known thrombin cleavage sites are as follows (Chang,
Eur. J. Biochem. 151:217 (1985); GST gene fusion system handbook,
Amersham Biosciences, Edition AA, p. 88-89). 1)
P4-P3-Pro-Arg/Lys.dwnarw.P1'-P2', wherein P3 and P4 are hydrophobic
amino acids and P1' and P2' are non-acidic amino acids. The
Arg/Lys.dwnarw.P1' bond is cleaved.
[0006] Examples: TABLE-US-00001 P4 P3 Pro Arg/Lys P1' P2' A Leu Val
Pro Arg Gly Ser B Met Tyr Pro Arg Gly Asn C Ile Arg Pro Lys Leu Lys
(SEQ ID NOS:1-3)
2) P2-Arg/Lys.dwnarw.P1', wherein either P2 or P1' is Gly. The
Arg/Lys.dwnarw.P1' bond is cleaved.
[0007] Examples: TABLE-US-00002 P2 Arg/Lys P1' A Ala Arg Gly B Gly
Lys Ala
[0008] The most frequently used thrombin cleavage sequence is
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly (SEQ ID NO:4) or Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ
ID NO: 1), which is derived from the sequence in bovine factor XIII
(Takagi et al., Biochemistry 13:750 (1974)). Cleavage occurs at the
arginine residue, resulting in the protein of interest being
extended at its amino-terminal end by either a Gly or Gly-Ser. This
thrombin cleavage sequence is also adopted in several commercially
available expression plasmids, including the pGEX series (Amersham
Biosciences) and the pET series (Novagen).
[0009] More recently, the Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ ID NO: 1)
sequence was further modified to include a glycine-rich linker
containing the sequence Ser-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly (SEQ ID NO:5)
located immediately before or after the thrombin cleavage site
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ ID NO: 1) (Guan et al., Anal. Biochem.
192:262 (1991); Hakes et al., Anal. Biochem. 202:293 (1992)).
[0010] While cleavage by thrombin in the currently known linker
sequence region is reasonably specific, it is not absolute.
Although thrombin is a reasonably specific enzyme, it can use a
variety of different amino acid sequences as its cleavage site. If
the target protein contains thrombin cleavage sites, then the
cleavage can occur at those sites, resulting in the production of
an internally cleaved protein, rather than the desired full length
protein.
[0011] For example, when Halobacterium halobium L11 protein, which
contains an internal thrombin cleavage sequence, was expressed as a
GST fusion protein that contained the Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ
ID NO: 1) thrombin cleavage site between the GST tag and L11,
treatment with thrombin resulted in cleavage within the target
protein L11, and not between L11 and the GST tag (Porse et al., J.
Mol. Biol. 276:391 (1998)). The Cdc14p protein of Saccharomyces
cerevisiae also has an internal thrombin cleavage sequence. When
the Cdc14p protein was expressed as a GST fusion protein containing
a Ser-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly-Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ ID NO:6)
thrombin cleavage site, the fusion protein was cleaved at the
internal site within Cdc14p as well as the site within the thrombin
cleavage linker (Taylor et al., J. Biol. Chem. 272:24054
(1997)).
[0012] The present invention provides a novel linker sequence for
thrombin cleavage which provides superior specificity to those
known in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention provides a peptide linker comprising a
novel thrombin cleavage site, which is useful for the recombinant
production of fusion proteins comprising a protein of interest and
for separation of the protein of interest from the fusion protein.
In one embodiment, the peptide linker comprises the sequence:
X1--X2-Ser-Pro-X3-X4-X5 wherein, X1 is two or more amino acid
residues that are the same or different from each other; [0014] X2
is a hydrophobic amino acid; [0015] X3 is arginine or lysine;
[0016] X4 is alanine or glycine; and X5 is a non-acidic amino
acid.
[0017] The present invention provides a fusion protein comprising a
protein of interest, a fusion partner, and the peptide linker of
the present invention interposed there between. The present
invention also provides a method of separating a protein of
interest from a fusion protein, comprising contacting said fusion
protein with a sufficient amount of thrombin such that cleavage of
the peptide linker occurs. After the cleavage reaction occurs, the
protein of interest is generated from the fusion protein. The
protein of interest can be recovered using simple techniques well
known to those having ordinary skill in the art.
[0018] The present invention may be used to purify any prokaryotic
or eukaryotic protein that can be expressed as the product of
recombinant DNA technology in a host cell. These recombinant
protein products include cytokines, chemokines, hormones,
receptors, enzymes, storage proteins, blood proteins, mutant
proteins produced by protein engineering techniques, or synthetic
proteins.
[0019] Additionally, the present invention relates to
polynucleotides encoding the peptide linkers, polynucleotides
encoding the fusion proteins, vectors containing the same, and host
cells containing the vectors.
[0020] The present invention further provides methods of preparing
a polynucleotide encoding a fusion protein, methods for producing a
fusion protein, and methods for producing a protein of
interest.
[0021] The present invention also provides kits comprising the
polynucleotides and vectors of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of pGEX4T-hIL11(A)
encoding a fusion protein comprising a peptide linker of the
invention (SEQ ID NO:8).
[0023] FIG. 2A shows the thrombin cleavage of GST-IL11(A).
[0024] FIG. 2B shows the thrombin cleavage of GST-IL11(A).
[0025] FIG. 3 shows the analysis of IL-11(A) by MALDI-TOF.
[0026] FIG. 4 shows the schematic representation of
pGEX-Thymosin.beta.4 encoding a fusion protein comprising a peptide
linker of the invention (SEQ ID NO:8).
[0027] FIG. 5 shows the thrombin cleavage of
GST-Thymosin.beta.4.
[0028] FIG. 6 shows the analysis of thymosin .beta.4 by
MALDI-TOF.
[0029] FIG. 7 shows the schematic representation of pGEX-IL6
encoding a fusion protein comprising a peptide linker of the
invention (SEQ ID NO:8).
[0030] FIG. 8 shows the thrombin cleavage of GST-IL6.
[0031] FIG. 9 shows the schematic representation of pGEX-PAR4
encoding a fusion protein comprising a peptide linker of the
invention (SEQ ID NO:8)
[0032] FIG. 10 shows the schematic representation of pGEX-IL11(LV-)
encoding a fusion protein comprising a peptide linker of the
invention (SEQ ID NO:7).
[0033] FIG. 11 shows the thrombin cleavage of GST-IL11(LV-).
[0034] FIG. 12 shows the schematic representation of pMAL-c2-IL11
encoding a fusion protein comprising a peptide linker of the
invention (SEQ ID NO:7).
[0035] FIG. 13 shows the thrombin cleavage of MBP-IL11.
[0036] FIG. 14 shows the schematic representation of pET19b-IL11
encoding a fusion protein comprising a peptide linker of the
invention (SEQ ID NO:7).
[0037] FIG. 15 shows the thrombin cleavage of His-IL11.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0038] The present invention provides a linker peptide comprising a
thrombin cleavage site that is cleavable with thrombin and the
like. In one embodiment, the peptide linker comprises the
sequence:
X1-X2-Ser-Pro-X3-X4-X5
wherein,
X1 is two or more amino acid residues that are the same or
different from each other;
X2 is a hydrophobic amino acid;
X3 is arginine or lysine;
X4 is alanine or glycine; and
X5 is a non-acidic amino acid.
[0039] In one embodiment, X1 is four or more amino acid residues
that are the same or different from each other. In another
embodiment, X1 is no more than 10 amino acid residues, e.g., no
more than 8 amino acid residues, e.g., no more than 6 amino acid
residues. For example, in various embodiments X1 may be 2-6,2-8,
2-10, 4-6,4-8, or 4-10 amino acid residues.
[0040] When the peptide linker is treated with thrombin, the
cleavage occurs at the bond between X3 and X4. Relative to the
cleavage site, X1 occupies positions 5 and 6 (P5-P6) when X1 is two
amino acid residues or positions 5 to 8 (P5-P8) when X1 is four
amino acid residues. X2, Ser, Pro, X3, X4 and X5 each occupies
position 4, 3, 2, 1, 1', and 2' (P4, P3, P2, P1, P1', P2'),
respectively. In one embodiment, X1 comprises Pro and Arg. In one
embodiment, X3 can be Arg or Lys. Thrombin cleaves peptide bonds
when either Arg or Lys precedes the carboxyl group. In another
embodiment, X4 can be Ala or Gly. The properties of Ala and Gly are
very similar, both being small and non polar amino acids. In one
embodiment, X2 can be a hydrophobic amino acid selected from the
group consisting of Gly, Ala, Pro, Val, Leu, Ile, Met, Phe, Tyr and
Trp. In a particular embodiment, X2 is Gly. In a further
embodiment, X5 can be a non-acidic amino acid selected from the
group consisting of Ser, Ala, Asn, Val, Leu, Ile, Lys, Phe, Tyr and
Trp. In a particular embodiment, X5 is Ser. In one embodiment, X1
can be two or more of any amino acid. In another embodiment, X1 can
be four or more of any amino acid. The exact amino acid sequence of
X1 does not have significant effects on thrombin cleavage.
[0041] In one embodiment, the peptide linker comprises the sequence
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7). In a further
embodiment, the peptide linker comprises the sequence
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8). When
a fusion protein containing this cleavage site is treated with
thrombin, the Arg.dwnarw.Ala bond within the cleavage site is
cleaved. In one embodiment, the peptide linker comprises a sequence
other than Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7). In
another embodiment, the peptide linker comprises a sequence other
than Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID
NO:8).
[0042] The peptide linker sequences
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7) and
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8) differ
from previously known thrombin cleavage sites because the P3 amino
acid Ser is not hydrophobic. According to previous studies, optimum
thrombin cleavage sites contain a hydrophobic amino acid at the P3
position (Chang, Eur. J. Biochem. 151:217 (1985)). The presence of
a non hydrophobic amino acid in the P3 position is known to prolong
the time for thrombin cleavage. Raftery et al. reported that the
amino acid sequence Asn-Asn-Pro-Arg-Gly-His (SEQ ID NO:9) found in
the murine MRP14 protein could be the substrate of thrombin, but it
was a poor substrate compared with Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ ID
NO: 1) (Raftery et al., Protein Expr. Purif. 15:228 (1999)). In the
case of fibrinogen, which is a natural substrate of thrombin, Gly
is located at the P3 position in fibrinopeptides A
(Gly-Gly-Val-Arg.dwnarw.Gly-Pro) (SEQ ID NO: 10), while Ser is
found at P3 in fibrinopeptides B (Phe-Ser-Ala-Arg.dwnarw.Gly-His)
(SEQ ID NO:11). Fibrinopeptides A is cleaved more rapidly than
fibrinopeptides B by thrombin (Binnie et al., Blood. 81:3186
(1993)).
[0043] The present invention provides a fusion protein comprising a
protein of interest, a fusion partner, and the peptide linker of
the present invention interposed there between.
[0044] The terms "fusion protein" and "chimeric protein," as used
herein, are interchangeable and refer to polypeptides and proteins
which comprise a protein of interest, a fusion partner and a linker
peptide with a thrombin cleavage site interposed there between. In
one embodiment, the protein of interest is linked to the N-terminus
of the peptide linker and the fusion partner is linked to the
C-terminus of the peptide linker. In another embodiment, the
protein of interest is linked to the C-terminus of the peptide
linker and the fusion partner is linked to the N-terminus of the
peptide linker. In a further embodiment, a fusion protein may
comprise more than one protein of interest and/or more than one
fusion partner, each separated by a peptide linker. In these
embodiments, the multiple proteins of interest may be the same or
different, the multiple fusion partners may be the same or
different, and the multiple peptide linkers may be the same or
different.
[0045] The terms "protein of interest," "desired polypeptide,"
"desired protein," or "target protein," as used herein, are
interchangeable and refer to any protein or peptide the production
of which is desirable. In one embodiment, the protein or peptide is
biologically active. Examples of proteins of interest include, but
are not limited to, interleukin (IL)-11, thymosin .beta.4, thymosin
.alpha.1, 1L-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13,
IL-15, IL-18, Protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1), PAR3, PAR4,
RANTES, stromal cell-derived factor-1.alpha., monocyte chemotactic
protein, stem cell factor, FLT-3L, parathyroid hormone,
thrombopoietin, epidermal growth factor, basic fibroblast growth
factor, insulin-like growth factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony
stimulating factor, granulocyte colony stimulating factor,
macrophage colony stimulating factor, platelet-derived growth
factor, transforming growth factor (TGF)-.beta.1, tumor necrosis
factor (TNF)-.alpha., interferon (IFN)-.alpha., IFN-.beta.,
IFN-.gamma., hepatocyte growth factor, vascular endothelial growth
factor and immunoglobulin heavy chain. In one embodiment, the
protein of interest is selected from the group consisting of human
IL11, thymosin .beta.4, IL-6 and PAR4. In another embodiment, the
protein of interest is human IL11.
[0046] The term "fusion partner," as used herein, refers to any
protein or peptide the inclusion of which in a fusion protein is
desirable. In one embodiment, the fusion partner imparts an
improved characteristic to the fusion protein, e.g., ease of
purification, stability, solubility, and the like. In one
embodiment, the fusion partner is an affinity peptide. Examples of
affinity peptides include, but are not limited to,
glutathione-S-transferase (GST), maltose binding protein (MBP),
hexahistidine, T7 peptide, ubiquitin, Flag peptide, c-myc peptide,
polyarginine, polycysteine, polyphenylalanine, BTag, galactose
binding domain, cellulose binding domain (CBD), thioredoxin,
staphylococcal protein A, streptococcal protein G, calmodulin,
beta-galactosidase, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, S-peptide,
streptavidin, His-tag, and Strep-tag.
[0047] The term "peptide linker," as used herein, refers to a
specific amino acid sequence which comprises a thrombin cleavage
site which is recognized and cleaved by thrombin.
[0048] The term "thrombin" as used herein, refers to any form of
thrombin which is capable of cleaving the peptide linker of the
invention. Thrombin may include naturally occurring thrombin,
recombinant thrombin, thrombin fragments, and thrombin analogs, as
long as some level of cleavage activity is retained by the protein.
In one embodiment, thrombin may be human thrombin or bovine
thrombin, including naturally occurring thrombin, recombinant
thrombin, or thrombin fragments and analogs derived from the human
or bovine sequence.
[0049] The present invention provides a method of separating a
protein of interest from a fusion protein comprising said protein
of interest, a fusion partner, and a peptide linker interposed
there between, said method comprising contacting said fusion
protein with a sufficient amount of thrombin such that cleavage of
the peptide linker occurs. In one embodiment, the fusion protein is
cleaved between X3 and X4 of the peptide linker. The method may
further involve separating the protein of interest from the other
portion of the fusion protein, e.g., by affinity purification or
size separation.
[0050] In one embodiment, the thrombin is human thrombin and the
fusion protein is contacted with about 0.1 USP units to about 1.0
USP units of thrombin, e.g., about 0.2 units to about 0.7 units of
thrombin, e.g., about 0.2 units to about 0.5 units of thrombin,
e.g., about 0.2 units to about 0.3 units of thrombin. In another
embodiment, the thrombin is human thrombin and the fusion protein
is contacted with thrombin for about 5 minutes to about 1.5 hours,
e.g., about 8 minutes to about 1.2 hours, e.g., about 10 minutes to
about 1.0 hours. In a further embodiment, the thrombin is human
thrombin and the fusion protein is contacted with about 0.25 units
of thrombin for about 30 minutes.
[0051] In one embodiment, the thrombin is bovine thrombin and the
fusion protein is contacted with about 0.1 units to about 1.0 units
of thrombin, e.g., about 0.2 units to about 0.7 units of thrombin.
In another embodiment, the thrombin is bovine thrombin and the
fusion protein is contacted with thrombin for about 5 minutes to
about 1.5 hours, e.g., about 8 minutes to about 1.2 hours, e.g.,
about 10 minutes to about 1.0 hours. In a further embodiment, the
thrombin is bovine thrombin and fusion protein is contacted with
about 0.5 units of thrombin for about 1.0 hours.
[0052] The present invention provides a polynucleotide encoding the
peptide linker of the invention. The polynucleotide may be prepared
by chemical synthesis or cloning.
[0053] The present invention provides a polynucleotide encoding the
fusion protein of the invention. In accordance with the present
invention, a polynucleotide sequence coding for a protein of
interest is isolated, synthesized or otherwise obtained and
operably linked to a polynucleotide sequence coding for the linker
peptide. The hybrid polynucleotide containing the gene for a
desired protein operably linked to a polynucleotide sequence
encoding a linker peptide is referred to as a chimeric
polynucleotide. In one embodiment, the chimeric polynucleotide is
prepared by amplification, e.g., polymerase chain reaction, using
primers incorporating the polynucleotide sequence encoding the
peptide linker, such that the amplification product comprises the
polynucleotide encoding the peptide sequence operably linked to the
polynucleotide encoding the protein of interest. In other
embodiments, the polynucleotides are ligated together using a
ligase. The chimeric polynucleotide is then operably linked to a
polynucleotide encoding a fusion partner to produce a
polynucleotide encoding the fusion protein. In other embodiments, a
polynucleotide encoding a fusion partner is operably linked to a
polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker to form a chimeric
polynucleotide, and the chimeric polynucleotide is then linked to a
polynucleotide encoding a protein of interest to produce a
polynucleotide encoding the fusion protein.
[0054] The term "operably linked," as used herein to refer to two
polynucleotides that encode a protein or peptide, means that the
two polynucleotides are linked in such a manner that a continuous
open reading frame exists that bridges both polynucleotides. As
related to regulatory elements, the term "operably linked" refers
to a regulatory element being linked to a polynucleotide encoding a
protein or peptide in such a manner that the regulatory element
exerts an effect on the transcription and/or translation of the
polynucleotide.
[0055] The present invention provides a vector (e.g., a plasmid,
virus, or bacteriophage vector) comprising a polynucleotide
encoding the peptide linker. In one embodiment, the vector is an
expression vector. The vector preferably is autonomously replicable
in a host cell and preferably contains a selectable marker such as
a drug resistance gene (e.g., ampicillin or tetracycline) or an
auxotrophy complement gene. In one embodiment, the vector further
comprises a polynucleotide encoding a fusion partner operably
linked, (e.g., upstream or downstream in the same reading frame) to
the polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker. In another
embodiment, the vector further comprises a polynucleotide encoding
a protein of interest operably linked, (e.g., upstream or
downstream in the same reading frame) to the polynucleotide
encoding the peptide linker. In another embodiment, the vector
comprises a polynucleotide encoding a fusion protein comprising a
protein of interest, a fusion partner, and a peptide linker
interposed there between. In one embodiment, the vector comprising
the polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker further comprises
one or more cloning sites, e.g., restriction enzyme recognition
sites, upstream and/or downstream of the polynucleotide encoding
the peptide linker to facilitate the cloning of polynucleotides
encoding proteins of interest or fusion partners into the vector in
frame with the peptide linker.
[0056] The vector provides the necessary regulatory sequences
(e.g., transcription and translation elements) to control
expression of the fusion protein in a suitable host cell. The
regulatory sequences may include one or more of promoter regions,
enhancer regions, transcription termination sites, ribosome binding
sites, initiation codons, splice signals, introns, polyadenylation
signals, Shine/Dalgarno translation sequences, and Kozak consensus
sequences. Regulatory sequences are chosen with regard to the host
cell in which the fusion protein is to be produced. Suitable
bacterial promoters include, but are not limited to, bacteriophage
.lamda. pL or pR, T6, T7, T7/lacO, lac, recA, gal, trp, ara, hut,
and trp-lac. Suitable eukaryotic promoters include, but are not
limited to, PRBI, GAPDH, metallothionein, thymidine kinase, viral
LTR, cytomegalovirus, SV40, or tissue-specific or tumor-specific
promoters such as .alpha.-fetoprotein, amylase, cathepsin E, M1
muscarinic receptor, or .gamma.-glutamyl transferase.
[0057] Fusion proteins which are to be secreted from a host cell
into the culture medium or into the periplasm of the host cell may
also contain a signal sequence. The signal sequence may be the
fusion partner or may be in addition to the fusion partner. A
polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence may be operably linked to
the 5' end of the polynucleotide encoding the fusion protein.
Further, an additional peptide linker may be inserted between the
signal sequence and the rest of the fusion protein such that the
signal sequence may be removed from the fusion protein by cleavage
with thrombin. Suitable signal sequences are well known in the art
and include, for example, MBP, GST, TRX, DsbA, and LamB from E.
coli and .alpha.-factor from yeast.
[0058] Additional examples of suitable expression vectors are found
in U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,503, which is incorporated herein by
reference.
[0059] The present invention provides a method of preparing a
polynucleotide encoding a fusion protein, comprising inserting a
polynucleotide encoding a protein of interest into a cloning site
of a vector such that the polynucleotide is upstream or downstream
and in frame with a polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker. In
a further embodiment, the polynucleotide encoding a protein of
interest is inserted into a cloning site of a vector comprising a
polynucleotide sequence encoding a peptide linker operably linked
to a polynucleotide encoding a fusion partner such that the
polynucleotide encoding a protein of interest is upstream or
downstream and in frame with a polynucleotide encoding the peptide
linker.
[0060] The present invention provides a host cell comprising a
vector of the invention. The host cell may be any cell suitable for
expression of fusion proteins, including prokaryotic (e.g.,
bacterial) and eukaryotic (e.g., fungi, yeast, animal, insect,
plant) cells. Suitable prokaryotic host cells include, but are not
limited to, E. coli (e.g., strains DH5, HB101, JM109, or W3110),
Bacillus, Streptomyces, Salmonella, Serratia, and Pseudomonas
species. Suitable eukaryotic host cells include, but are not
limited to, COS, CHO, HepG-2, CV-1, LLC-MK.sub.2, 3T3, HeLa,
RPMI8226, 293, BHK-21, Sf9, Saccharomyces, Pichia, Hansenula,
Kluyveromyces, Aspergillus, or Trichoderma species.
[0061] Methods and materials for preparing recombinant vectors and
transforming host cells using the same, replicating the vectors in
host cells and expressing biologically active foreign polypeptides
and proteins are described in Old et al., Principles of Gene
Manipulation, 2nd edition, (1981); Sambrook et al., Molecular
Cloning, 3rd edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2001, and
Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley
& Sons, New York 3rd edition, (2000), each incorporated herein
by reference. Vectors may be introduced into a host cell by any
means known in the art, including, but not limited to,
transformation, calcium phosphate precipitation, electroporation,
lipofection, microinjection, and viral infection.
[0062] The present invention provides a method for producing a
fusion protein, comprising preparing a vector comprising a
polynucleotide encoding a fusion protein of the invention,
delivering the vector into a host cell, culturing the host cell
under conditions in which the fusion protein is expressed, and
separating the fusion protein. The method may further comprise
contacting the separated fusion protein with thrombin to cleave the
fusion protein and separating the protein of interest.
[0063] The present invention further provides a method for
producing a protein of interest, comprising preparing a vector
comprising a polynucleotide encoding a fusion protein of the
invention, delivering the vector into a host cell, culturing the
host cell under conditions in which the fusion protein is
expressed, separating the fusion protein, contacting the separated
fusion protein with thrombin to cleave the fusion protein, and
separating the protein of interest.
[0064] The fusion protein may be separated from the host cell by
any means known in the art. If the fusion protein is secreted from
the host cell, the culture medium containing the fusion protein may
be collected. If the fusion protein is not secreted from the host
cell, the cell may be lysed to release the fusion protein. For
example, bacterial cells may be lysed by application of high
pressure (e.g., with a high pressure homogenizer) or by
sonication.
[0065] Preferably, the fusion protein is separated by affinity
purification based on the fusion partner. For example, a fusion
protein comprising GST may be separated on a glutathione-containing
column and a fusion protein comprising a hexahistidine tag may be
separated on a metal-containing column.
[0066] While affinity purification methods are preferred for
separation of the fusion protein, any known technique for
separating proteins may be used instead of or in addition to
affinity purification, including solvent extraction,
ultrafiltration, ammonium sulfate fractionation, HPLC, gel
filtration chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, hydrophobic
interaction chromatography, electrophoresis, and isoelectric
focusing.
[0067] In one embodiment, the separated fusion protein may be
contacted with thrombin and the cleaved protein separated by
affinity chromatography such that the fusion partner is bound to
the column and the protein of interest passes through and is
collected. In another embodiment, the fusion protein may be
separated by affinity chromatography and then contacted with
thrombin after being eluted from the affinity media. In a further
embodiment, the fusion protein may be contacted with thrombin while
the fusion protein is still attached to the affinity media, thereby
releasing the protein of interest. The concentration of thrombin
can range from about 0.1 to about 100 USP units/ml, e.g., about 1
to about 50 units/ml, e.g., about 10 units/ml. Flow rate can be
adjusted to 0 ml/min by stopping the pump and then maintained for
about 5 to about 60 min, e.g., about 10 to about 15 min.
[0068] Conditions for cleavage of the fusion protein by thrombin
are well known in the art, and typically are as follows: about pH
of about 7 to about 9, about 4.degree. C. to about 37.degree. C.,
substrate:enzyme ratio of about 5:1 to about 125:1 (molar ratio),
for about 1 to about 24 hours.
[0069] The protein purification techniques described above may also
be used for separation of the protein of interest following
cleavage of the fusion protein by thrombin. In one embodiment, the
protein of interest is subjected to cation exchange chromatography
(e.g., CM SEPHAROSE) and/or an anion exchange chromatography (e.g.,
Q SEPHAROSE). In one embodiment, the protein of interest is first
subjected to cation exchange chromatography, and subsequently
subjected to anion exchange chromatography.
[0070] For example, recombinant IL-11 protein isolated from
affinity chromatography can first be purified using a cation
exchange column, e.g., CM Sepharose Fast Flow medium. The column
packed with the medium can be equilibrated with Buffer B containing
25 mM Tris-HCl. Sample containing IL-11 protein can be diluted
about 4-fold with Buffer B and then loaded onto the column. To wash
the column, Buffer B can be loaded and then Buffer E containing
0.15 M Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5 can be applied. Target protein can be
eluted with Buffer F containing 0.15 M Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5 and 0.15 M
NaCl. All procedures of this step may be performed at about
4.degree. C. The pH value of Buffer B can range from about 7.5 to
about 8.5. In the cases of Buffer E and Buffer F, pH can range from
about 9.2 to about 9.7.
[0071] Recombinant IL-11 protein eluted from the cation exchange
column can be further purified using an anion exchange column,
e.g., Q Sepharose Fast Flow medium. The column packed with this
medium can be equilibrated with Buffer G containing 1 M Gly-NaOH,
pH 9.5. This column is re-equilibrated with Buffer H containing 40
mM Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5. Sample obtained from the previous step can be
diluted about 4-fold with water and then loaded onto the column.
Flow-through containing the target protein can then be collected.
Buffer H containing 40 mM Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5 is applied to the column
and the flow-through is also collected. The pH value during this
step can range from about 9.2 to about 9.7 or about 9.5. All
procedures of this anion exchange chromatography may be performed
at about room temperature. Endotoxin can be efficiently eliminated
through these procedures.
[0072] The invention provides a kit comprising a polynucleotide
encoding a peptide linker. In one embodiment, the kit comprises a
vector comprising the polynucleotide encoding a peptide linker. In
another embodiment, the vector is an expression vector. In one
embodiment, the vector further comprises a polynucleotide encoding
a fusion partner operably linked, e.g., upstream or downstream in
the same reading frame, to the polynucleotide encoding the peptide
linker. In another embodiment, the vector further comprises a
polynucleotide encoding a protein of interest operably linked,
e.g., upstream or downstream in the same reading frame, to the
polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker. In another embodiment,
the vector comprises a polynucleotide encoding a fusion protein
comprising a protein of interest, a fusion partner, and a peptide
linker interposed there between. In one embodiment, the vector
comprising the polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker further
comprises one or more cloning sites, e.g., restriction enzyme
recognition sites, upstream and/or downstream of the polynucleotide
encoding the peptide linker to facilitate the cloning of
polynucleotides encoding proteins of interest or fusion partners
into the vector in frame with the peptide linker. In an additional
embodiment, the vector comprises the polynucleotide encoding the
peptide linker, operably linked to a polynucleotide encoding a
fusion partner, and further comprising one or more cloning sites
upstream or downstream of the polynucleotide encoding the peptide
linker. In one embodiment, the order of the polynucleotides is
fusion partner, peptide linker, cloning sites. In an alternative
embodiment, the order of the polynucleotides is cloning site,
peptide linker, fusion partner. In one embodiment, the kit
comprises multiple vectors in which each vector comprises a
polynucleotide encoding the peptide linker and multiple cloning
sites in a different reading frame relative to the peptide linker,
such that a polynucleotide encoding a protein of interest can be
inserted into one of the vectors in frame with the peptide
linker.
[0073] The kit may further comprise other agents related to the use
of the vectors, e.g., buffers, restriction enzymes, ligases,
phosphorylases, host cells, and the like. The kit may also comprise
instructions for use of the vectors, e.g., for insertion of a
polynucleotide encoding a protein of interest or production of a
fusion protein.
[0074] The following examples are illustrative, but not limiting,
of the methods of the present invention. Other suitable
modifications and adaptations of the variety of conditions and
parameters normally encountered in medical treatment and
pharmaceutical science and which are obvious to those skilled in
the art are within the spirit and scope of the invention.
EXAMPLE 1
GST-IL11 (A)
[0075] In the present example, GST-IL11(A) fusion protein was
prepared. GST-IL11(A) fusion protein is composed of glutathione
S-transferase (GST) and human IL-11 with a thrombin cleavage site
inserted there between. The thrombin cleavage site for GST-IL11(A)
is Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID
NO:8).
[0076] To produce GST-IL11(A), an E. coli expression plasmid,
pGEX4T-hIL11(A), was constructed (FIG. 1). The DNA sequence
encoding human IL-11(A) was obtained by PCR and site-directed
mutagenesis from human IL-11 cDNA. The following primer pairs were
used for PCR. TABLE-US-00003 (SEQ ID NO:12) 5': GGA TCC CCG CGA GCT
TCC CCA GAC CCT BamHI (SEQ ID NO:13) 3': GTC GAC CCC TTA TCA CAG
CCG AGT CTT CAG SalI
[0077] The following primer pairs were used for site-directed
mutagenesis. TABLE-US-00004 (SEQ ID NO:14) 5'DN: CCA GCC ACC CCC
GAA CCC GCC GGC GCC (SEQ ID NO:15) 3'DN: GGC GCC GGC GGG TTC GGG
GGT GGC TGG
[0078] The 5' primer for PCR was designed to encode Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser
(SEQ ID NO: 16) residues. The BamHI/SalI treated DNA fragment was
cloned into the BamHI/SalI site of pGEX4T-1 plasmid, generating
pGEX4T-hIL11(A). The plasmid pGEX4T-1 originally has the thrombin
cleavage site Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ ID NO:1) behind the GST
tag. Therefore, pGEX4T-hIL11(A) has the new thrombin cleavage site
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8)
between glutathione S-transferase and human IL-11 sequences.
[0079] The site-directed mutagenesis was performed to change the
Asp155 of wild-type IL-11 (NCBI Accession No.: AAA59132) to
Asn.
[0080] The amino acid sequence of the hIL11(A) including the
thrombin cleavage site is given below: TABLE-US-00005 (SEQ ID
NO:17) Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-
Pro-Arg-Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp-Ser-Thr-Val-Leu-Leu-Thr-
Arg-Ser-Leu-Leu-Ala-Asp-Thr-Arg-Gln-Leu-Ala-Ala-
Gln-Leu-Arg-Asp-Lys-Phe-Pro-Ala-Asp-Gly-Asp-His-
Asn-Leu-Asp-Ser-Leu-Pro-Thr-Leu-Ala-Met-Ser-Ala-
Gly-Ala-Leu-Gly-Ala-Leu-Gln-Leu-Pro-Gly-Val-Leu-
Thr-Arg-Leu-Arg-Ala-Asp-Leu-Leu-Ser-Tyr-Leu-Arg-
His-Val-Gln-Trp-Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Gly-Gly-Ser-Ser-
Leu-Lys-Thr-Leu-Glu-Pro-Glu-Leu-Gly-Thr-Leu-Gln-
Ala-Arg-Leu-Asp-Arg-Leu-Leu-Arg-Arg-Leu-Gln-Leu-
Leu-Met-Ser-Arg-Leu-Ala-Leu-Pro-Gln-Pro-Pro-Pro-
Asn-Pro-Pro-Ala-Pro-Pro-Leu-Ala-Pro-Pro-Ser-Ser-
Ala-Try-Gly-Gly-Ile-Arg-Ala-Ala-His-Ala-Ile-Leu-
Gly-Gly-Leu-His-Leu-Thr-Leu-Asp-Trp-Ala-Val-Arg-
Gly-Leu-Leu-Leu-Leu-Lys-Thr-Arg-Leu
[0081] The expression plasmid pGEX4T-hIL11(A) was transformed into
E. Coli BL21. Transformants were inoculated in LB Broth
supplemented with ampicillin (50 .mu.g/ml final concentration), and
incubated at 37.degree. C. until OD 600 reached 0.5. Then,
isopropyl-.beta.-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was added to a
final concentration of 0.4 mM to induce protein expression and the
cells were grown for an additional 3 h at 37.degree. C. The
expression of GST-IL11 was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The cells were
harvested by centrifugation, resuspended in 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer,
pH 8.0 and lysed by sonication. Ammonium sulfate was added at a
final concentration of 5.6% while maintaining pH 8.0 with Tris
powder. Addition of ammonium sulfate was carried out at 4.degree.
C. The supernatant containing target protein was applied to a
Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast Flow (Amersham Biosciences) affinity
column pre-equilibrated with 25 mM Tris-HC1 buffer, pH 8.0.
Following several washes, the bound fusion protein was eluted with
25 mM Tris-HCl buffer containing 150 mM NaCl and 10 mM reduced
glutathione, pH 8.0.
[0082] The purified fusion protein was digested with thrombin. One
hundred micrograms of protein samples were subjected to cleavage by
0.1 units, 0.25 units or 0.5 units of bovine or human thrombin in
25 mM Tris-HCl buffer containing 150 mM NaCl, pH 8, at 20.degree.
C. Aliquots were removed from each reaction at various time points
(10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, and 5 h after reaction), and
heat-inactivated by boiling for 5 min to stop the reaction. The
results were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, and visualized by staining with
Coomassie brilliant blue. The fusion protein GST-hIL11(A) gradually
split into two major products, the GST fusion partner (26 kDa) and
IL-11 (18.2 kDa) as the reaction progressed (FIGS. 2A and 2B), and
internal cleavage within IL-11 was not observed. The GST fusion
partner was efficiently cleaved by both bovine and human thrombin
in the concentration ranges and the time points tested (FIGS. 2A
and 2B).
[0083] Following cleavage with thrombin, the IL-11 was
re-chromatographed using Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast Flow to
remove the GST portion of the fusion protein. The N-terminal amino
acid sequence of the IL-11 was analyzed using a Procise 491A HT
protein sequencer (Applied Biosystems, USA). It was confirmed that
the isolated IL11(A) has the sequence
Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg-Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp-Ser-Thr-Val-Leu-Leu (SEQ ID
NO:18) at its N-terminus.
[0084] Alternatively, the GST portion of the fusion protein was
removed while the fusion protein was bound on the column containing
Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast Flow medium whose binding capacity is
about 10 mg per ml. The column was packed with the Glutathione
Sepharose 4 Fast Flow medium, and equilibrated with about 5 times
column volume (CV) of Buffer B containing 25 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0.
After loading of supernatant obtained from bacterial lysate, the
column was washed with about 20 CV of Buffer B, and then
equilibrated with about 5 CV of Buffer C containing 25 mM Tris-HCl,
pH 8.0, and 0.15 M NaCl. Thrombin dissolved in Buffer C was then
applied at about 10 units per ml of the medium (or about 1 unit per
mg of the binding capacity of the medium). Subsequently, about 3 CV
of Buffer C was applied to the column and IL11(A) detached from the
fusion partner was collected. All procedures were performed at room
temperature, about 20-25.degree. C.
[0085] To check whether any internal cleavage within IL-11
occurred, IL-11 was further purified by cation exchange
chromatography which was followed by anion chromatography, and
analyzed by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass
Spectrometer (MALDI-TOF/MS) (Proteomics Solution I (Voyager-DE
STR), Applied Biosystems). The expected molecular weight of IL-11
was 18.26 kDa according to Compute pI/MW tool (available at
au.expasy.org/tools/pi_tool.html), and an 18264 Da peak was
observed (FIG. 3). From this result, it was confirmed that intact
IL-11 protein was generated after thrombin cleavage of
GST-IL11(A).
[0086] More specifically, recombinant IL-11 protein isolated from
affinity chromatography was first purified using CM Sepharose Fast
Flow medium. The column packed with the medium was equilibrated
with Buffer B. Sample containing IL-11 protein was diluted about
4-fold with Buffer B and then loaded onto the column. To wash the
column, Buffer B was loaded and then Buffer E containing 0.15 M
Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5 was applied. Target protein was eluted with Buffer
F containing 0.15 M Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5 and 0.15 M NaCl. All
procedures of this step were performed at about 4.degree. C.
[0087] Recombinant IL-11 protein eluted from the cation exchange
column was then further purified using Q Sepharose Fast Flow
medium. The column packed with this medium was equilibrated with
Buffer G containing 1 M Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5. This column was
re-equilibrated with Buffer H containing 40 mM Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5.
Sample obtained from the previous step was diluted about 4-fold
with water and then loaded onto the column. Flow-through containing
the target protein was then collected. Buffer H containing 40 mM
Gly-NaOH, pH 9.5 was applied to the column and the flow-through was
also collected. The pH value during this step was about 9.5. All
procedures of this anion exchange chromatography were performed at
about room temperature. Endotoxin was efficiently eliminated
through these procedures.
[0088] The GST-IL11(A) fusion protein contains the new thrombin
cleavage sequence Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID
NO:8). Although the Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID
NO:8) sequence includes the previously known
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ ID NO: 1) sequence, thrombin cleavage
occurs not at Arg.dwnarw.Gly but at Arg.dwnarw.Ala. It proves that
thrombin prefers Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID
NO:8) to Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser (SEQ ID NO: 1).
EXAMPLE 2
GST-Thymosin .beta.4
[0089] The GST-Thymosin .beta.4 expression plasmid, pGEX-Thymosin
.beta.4, was constructed by inserting a cDNA of thymosin .beta.4
into pGEX4T-1-Kan (FIG. 4). A cDNA encoding human thymosin .beta.4
was cloned from total RNA prepared from K562 cells by reverse
transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The
oligonucleotide sequences for PCR were as follows: TABLE-US-00006
(SEQ ID NO:18) 5': GGATCCCCTCGAGCTTCTGACAAACCCGATATG BamHI (SEQ ID
NO:19) 3': GTCGACTTACGATTCGCCTGCTTGCTTCTC SalI
[0090] The 5' primer was designed to contain the coding sequence
for Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:20), so that the
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8)
sequence could be generated when the PCR product was cloned into
pGEX4T-1 expression plasmid.
[0091] A 135 bp cDNA product was generated by the PCR. The
amplified product was cloned into the pGEM-T Easy plasmid (Promega,
Wis., USA), resulting in pGEM-Thymosin .beta.4. Following sequence
confirmation, the BamHI/SalI fragment of pGEM-Thymosin .beta.4 was
cloned into the corresponding sites of the pGEX4T-1-Kan vector
which was prepared from pGEX4T-1 by replacing the ampicillin
resistance gene with the kanamycin resistance gene.
[0092] The amino acid sequence of thymosin .beta.4 including the
thrombin cleavage site is given below. TABLE-US-00007 (SEQ ID
NO:21) Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser-Asp-Lys-
Pro-Asp-Met-Ala-Glu-Ile-Glu-Lys-Phe-Asp-Lys-Ser-
Lys-Leu-Lys-Lys-Thr-Glu-Thr-Gln-Glu-Lys-Asn-Pro-
Leu-Pro-Ser-Lys-Glu-Thr-Ile-Glu-Gln-Glu-Lys-Gln-
Ala-Gly-Glu-Ser
[0093] The expression plasmids were transformed into E. coli
DH5.alpha.. Transformants were inoculated in LB Broth, and
incubated at 37.degree. C. until OD 600 reached 0.5, and IPTG was
added to a final concentration of 0.4 mM. Incubation was continued
for 3 h, and the cells were harvested by centrifugation. The
expression of GST-Thymosin .beta.4 was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The
bacterial pellets were resuspended in 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0
buffer and lysed by sonication. GST-Thymosin .beta.4 was purified
by Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast Flow from the soluble fraction.
[0094] The purified fusion proteins were digested with thrombin and
analyzed by SDS-PAGE using 15% tricine separation gel. One hundred
micrograms of protein samples were subjected to cleavage by 0.5
units thrombin in 25 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0 containing 150 mM
NaCl, and 10 mM reduced glutathione, at 20.degree. C. Aliquots were
removed from each reaction at various time points (10 min, 30 min,
1 h, and 3 h after reaction), and heat-inactivated by boiling for 5
min to stop the reaction. The fusion protein GST-Thymosin .beta.4
(31 kDa) gradually disappeared, and the amount of thymosin .beta.4
(5 kDa) increased as reaction time passed (FIG. 5).
[0095] Following cleavage with thrombin, the thymosin .beta.4 was
re-chromatographed using Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast Flow to
remove the GST portion of the fusion protein. The N-terminal amino
acid sequence of the thymosin .beta.4 was analyzed using a Procise
491A HT protein sequencer (Applied Biosystems, USA). It was
confirmed that the isolated thymosin .beta.4 has the sequence
Ala-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro-Asp-Met-Ala-Glu-Ile (SEQ ID NO:22) at its
N-terminus.
[0096] To check whether any internal cleavage within thymosin
.beta.4 occurred, thymosin .beta.4 was further purified by cation
exchange chromatography and anion chromatography, and analyzed by
MALDI-TOF/MS (Proteomics Solution I (Voyager-DE STR), Applied
Biosystems). The expected molecular weight of thymosin .beta.4 was
5.02 kDa according to Compute pI/MW tool (available at
au.expasy.org/tools/pi_tool.html), and a 4992 Da peak was observed
(FIG. 6). From this result, it was confirmed that intact thymosin
.beta.4 protein was generated after thrombin cleavage of
GST-Thymosin .beta.4.
EXAMPLE 3
GST-IL6
[0097] The GST-IL6 expression plasmid, pGEX-IL6, was constructed by
inserting a cDNA of murine IL-6 into pGEX4T-1 (FIG. 7). A cDNA
encoding murine IL-6 was cloned from total RNA prepared from mouse
dendritic cells by RT-PCR. The oligonucleotide sequences for PCR
were as follows: TABLE-US-00008 (SEQ ID NO:23) 5': GGA TCC CCT CGA
GCT TCT TTC CCT ACT TCA BamHI (SEQ ID NO:24) 3': GTC GAC CTA GGT
TTG CCG AGT AGA TCT SalI
[0098] The 5' primer was designed to contain the coding sequence
for Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:20), so that the
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8)
sequence could be generated when the PCR product was cloned into
pGEX4T-1 expression plasmid.
[0099] A 588 bp cDNA product was generated by the PCR. The
amplified product was cloned into the pGEM-T Easy plasmid,
resulting in pGEM-IL6. Following sequence confirmation, the
BamHI/SalI fragment of pGEM-IL6 was cloned into the corresponding
sites of the pGEX4T-1 vector.
[0100] The amino acid sequence of IL-6 including the thrombin
cleavage site is given below. TABLE-US-00009 (SEQ ID NO:25)
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser-Phe-Pro-
Thr-Ser-Gln-Val-Arg-Arg-Gly-Asp-Phe-Thr-Glu-Asp-
Thr-Thr-Pro-Asn-Arg-Pro-Val-Tyr-Thr-Thr-Ser-Gln-
Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Ilu-Thr-His-Val-Leu-Trp-Glu-Ilu-
Val-Glu-Met-Arg-Lys-Glu-Leu-Cys-Asn-Gly-Asn-Ser-
Asp-Cys-Met-Asn-Asn-Asp-Asp-Ala-Leu-Ala-Glu-Asn-
Asn-Leu-Lys-Leu-Pro-Glu-Ilu-Gln-Arg-Asn-Asp-Gly-
Cys-Tyr-Gln-Thr-Gly-Tyr-Asn-Gln-Glu-Ilu-Cys-Leu-
Leu-Lys-Ilu-Ser-Ser-Gly-Leu-Leu-Glu-Tyr-His-Ser-
Tyr-Leu-Glu-Tyr-Met-Lys-Asn-Asn-Leu-Lys-Asp-Asn-
Lys-Lys-Asp-Lys-Ala-Arg-Val-Leu-Gln-Arg-Asp-Thr-
Glu-Thr-Leu-Ilu-His-Ilu-Phe-Asn-Gln-Glu-Val-Lys-
Asp-Leu-His-Lys-Ilu-Val-Leu-Pro-Thr-Pro-Ilu-Ser-
Asn-Ala-Leu-Leu-Thr-Asp-Lys-Leu-Glu-Ser-Gln-Lys-
Glu-Trp-Leu-Arg-Thr-Lys-Thr-Ilu-Gln-Phe-Ilu-Leu-
Lys-Ser-Leu-Glu-Glu-Phe-Leu-Lys-Val-Thr-Leu-Arg-
Ser-Thr-Arg-Gln-Thr
[0101] The expression plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21.
Transformants were inoculated in LB Broth supplemented with
ampicillin (50 .mu.g/ml final concentration), and incubated at
37.degree. C. until OD 600 reached 0.5, and IPTG was added to a
final concentration of 0.4 mM. Incubation was continued for 3 h,
and the cells were harvested by centrifugation. The expression of
GST-IL6 was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The bacterial pellets were
resuspended in 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0 and lysed by
sonication. GST-IL6 was purified by Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast
Flow from the soluble fraction.
[0102] The purified fusion proteins were digested with thrombin and
analyzed by SDS-PAGE. One hundred micrograms of protein samples
were subjected to cleavage by 0.5 units thrombin in 25 mM Tris-HCl
buffer, pH 8.0 containing 150 mM NaCl, and 10 mM reduced
glutathione, at 20.degree. C. Aliquots were removed from each
reaction at various time points (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h
after reaction), and heat-inactivated by boiling for 5 min to stop
the reaction. The fusion protein GST-IL6 (46 kDa) gradually
disappeared, and the amount of IL-6 (22 kDa) increased as reaction
time passed (FIG. 8).
[0103] To check where the cleavage occurred by thrombin treatment,
the protein band containing IL-6 protein was obtained, and
subjected to amino acid sequencing. First, the purified GST-IL6
protein was treated with thrombin for 3 h, and separated by
SDS-PAGE. Then, the proteins in the polyacrylamide gel were
transferred to PVDF membrane. After the band containing IL-6
protein was identified, it was sliced away from the PVDF membrane,
and subjected to amino acid sequencing. It was confirmed that the
IL-6 has the sequence Ala-Ser-Phe-Pro-Thr-Ser-Gln-Val-Arg-Arg (SEQ
ID NO:26) at its N-terminus.
EXAMPLE 4
GST-PAR4
[0104] The protease-activated receptors (PARs) are known to be
activated by the proteolysis of an N-terminal exodomain (Kahn et
al., J. Clin. Invest. 103:879 (1999)). There are four PARs (PAR1-4)
that make up this family of proteins, and PAR 1, 3 and 4 are
activated by thrombin (Coughlin, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
96:11023 (1999)). The amino acid sequence of the thrombin cleavage
site on PAR4 is Leu.sup.43-Pro-Ala-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Gly-Tyr (SEQ ID
NO:27). We produced the GST-PAR4 protein which contains
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8)
sequence as another thrombin cleavage site to test which site is
preferred by thrombin.
[0105] The GST-PAR4 expression plasmid, pGEX-PAR4, was constructed
by inserting a cDNA of human PAR4 into pGEX4T-1-Kan (FIG. 9). A
cDNA encoding human PAR4 was cloned from total RNA prepared from
K562 cells by RT-PCR. The oligonucleotide sequences for PCR were as
follows: TABLE-US-00010 (SEQ ID NO:28) 5': GGATCC CCT CGA GCT TCT
ATG TGG GGG CGA BamHI (SEQ ID NO:29) 3': GTCGAC TCA GTG CAC CAG GGC
CAG GTA SalI
[0106] The 5' primer was designed to contain the coding sequence
for Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:20), so that the
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8)
sequence could be generated when the PCR product was cloned into
pGEX4T-1-Kan plasmid.
[0107] A 540 bp cDNA product was generated by the PCR. The
amplified product was cloned into the pGEM-T Easy plasmid,
resulting in pGEM-PAR4. Following sequence confirmation, the
BamHI/SalI fragment of pGEM-PAR4 was cloned into the corresponding
sites of the pGEX4T-1-Kan vector.
[0108] The amino acid sequence of PAR4 including the thrombin
cleavage site is given below. TABLE-US-00011 (SEQ ID NO:30)
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser-Met-Trp-
Gly-Arg-Leu-Leu-Leu-Trp-Pro-Leu-Val-Leu-Gly-Phe-
Ser-Leu-Ser-Gly-Gly-Thr-Gln-Thr-Pro-Ser-Val-Tyr-
Asp-Glu-Ser-Gly-Ser-Thr-Gly-Gly-Gly-Asp-Asp-Ser-
Thr-Pro-Ser-Ile-Leu-Pro-Ala-Pro-Arg-Gly-Tyr-Pro-
Gly-Gln-Val-Cys-Ala-Asn-Asp-Ser-Asp-Thr-Leu-Glu-
Leu-Pro-Asp-Ser-Ser-Arg-Ala-Leu-Leu-Leu-Gly-Tyr-
Val-Pro-Thr-Arg-Leu-Val-Pro-Ala-Leu-Tyr-Gly-Leu-
Val-Leu-Val-Val-Gly-Leu-Pro-Ala-Asn-Gly-Leu-Ala-
Leu-Trp-Val-Leu-Ala-Thr-Gln-Ala-Pro-Arg-Leu-Pro-
Ser-Thr-Met-Leu-Leu-Met-Asn-Leu-Ala-Thr-Ala-Asp-
Leu-Leu-Leu-Ala-Leu-Ala-Leu-Pro-Pro-Arg-Ile-Ala-
Tyr-His-Leu-Arg-Gly-Gln-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Phe-Gly-Glu-
Ala-Ala-Cys-Arg-Leu-Ala-Thr-Ala-Ala-Leu-Tyr-Gly-
His-Met-Tyr-Gly-Ser-Val-Leu-Leu-Leu-Ala-Ala-Val-
Ser-Leu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Leu-Ala-Leu-Val-His
The internal thrombin cleavage site is underlined.
[0109] The expression plasmid is transformed into E. coli BL21.
Transformants are inoculated in LB Broth supplemented with
kanamycin (50 .mu.g/ml final concentration), and incubated at
37.degree. C. until OD 600 reaches 0.5, and IPTG is added to a
final concentration of 0.4 mM. Incubation is continued for 3 h, and
the cells are harvested by centrifugation. The expression of
GST-PAR4 is confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The bacterial pellets are
resuspended in 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0 and lysed by
sonication. GST-PAR4 is purified by Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast
Flow from the soluble fraction.
[0110] The purified fusion proteins are digested with thrombin and
analyzed by SDS-PAGE. One hundred micrograms of protein samples are
subjected to cleavage by 0.5 units thrombin in 25 mM Tris-HCl
buffer, pH 8.0 containing 150 mM NaCl, and 10 mM reduced
glutathione, at 20.degree. C. Aliquots are removed from each
reaction at various time points (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h
after reaction), and heat-inactivated by boiling for 5 min to stop
the reaction.
EXAMPLE 5
GST-IL11(LV-)
[0111] To test whether the whole
Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:8) sequence is
required for efficient thrombin cleavage, an expression plasmid
encoding Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7) as a
thrombin cleavage site was constructed. First, the BamHI/SalI
fragment containing IL-11(A) was obtained from pGEX4T-IL11(A) which
was described in EXAMPLE 1. Then, it was inserted into the
BamHI/SalI site of pGEX6P-2, resulting in pGEX6P-IL11. The plasmid
pGEX6P-2 contains "Pro-Leu" sequence upstream of the BamHI site.
Therefore, pGEX6P-IL11 can have Pro-Leu-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser
(SEQ ID NO:31) because the BamHI/SalI fragment containing IL-11(A)
starts as Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:20) sequence. The
second amino acid Leu was changed to Arg by site-directed
mutagenesis to produce Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID
NO:7) sequence. The following oligonucleotides were used for the
site-directed mutagenesis: TABLE-US-00012 (SEQ ID NO:32) 5': CAG
GGG CCC CGG GGA TCC CCT CGA GCT (SEQ ID NO:33) 3': AGC TCG AGG GGA
TCC CCG GGG CTG
[0112] The resulting plasmid was named as pGEX-IL11 (LV-) (FIG.
10), and used for the production of GST-IL11(LV-).
[0113] The amino acid sequence of IL-11(LV-) including the thrombin
cleavage site is given below. TABLE-US-00013 (SEQ ID NO:34)
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg-
Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp-Ser-Thr-Val-Leu-Leu-Thr-Arg-Ser-
Leu-Leu-Ala-Asp-Thr-Arg-Gln-Leu-Ala-Ala-Gln-Leu-
Arg-Asp-Lys-Phe-Pro-Ala-Asp-Gly-Asp-His-Asn-Leu-
Asp-Ser-Leu-Pro-Thr-Leu-Ala-Met-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ala-
Leu-Gly-Ala-Leu-Gln-Leu-Pro-Gly-Val-Leu-Thr-Arg-
Leu-Arg-Ala-Asp-Leu-Leu-Ser-Tyr-Leu-Arg-His-Val-
Gln-Trp-Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Gly-Gly-Ser-Ser-Leu-Lys-
Thr-Leu-Glu-Pro-Glu-Leu-Gly-Thr-Leu-Gln-Ala-Arg-
Leu-Asp-Arg-Leu-Leu-Arg-Arg-Leu-Gln-Leu-Leu-Met-
Ser-Arg-Leu-Ala-Leu-Pro-Gln-Pro-Pro-Pro-Asn-Pro-
Pro-Ala-Pro-Pro-Leu-Ala-Pro-Pro-Ser-Ser-Ala-Try-
Gly-Gly-Ile-Arg-Ala-Ala-His-Ala-Ile-Leu-Gly-Gly-
Leu-His-Leu-Thr-Leu-Asp-Trp-Ala-Val-Arg-Gly-Leu-
Leu-Leu-Leu-Lys-Thr-Arg-Leu
[0114] The expression plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21.
Transformants were inoculated in LB Broth supplemented with
ampicillin (50 .mu.g/ml final concentration), and incubated at
37.degree. C. until OD 600 reached 0.5, and IPTG was added to a
final concentration of 0.4 mM. Incubation was continued for 3 h,
and the cells were harvested by centrifugation. The expression of
GST-IL11(LV-) was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The bacterial pellets were
resuspended in 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0 and lysed by
sonication. GST-IL11(LV-) was purified by Glutathione Sepharose 4
Fast Flow from the soluble fraction.
[0115] The purified fusion proteins were digested with thrombin and
analyzed by SDS-PAGE. One hundred micrograms of protein samples
were subjected to cleavage by 0.5 units thrombin in 25 mM Tris-HCl
buffer containing 150 mM NaCl, pH 8, at 20.degree. C. Aliquots were
removed from each reaction at various time points (10 min, 30 min,
1 h, 2 h, and 3 h after reaction), and heat-inactivated by boiling
for 5 min to stop the reaction. The fusion protein GST-IL11 (LV-)
(44 kDa) gradually disappeared, and the amount of IL-11(LV-) (18
kDa) increased as reaction time passed (FIG. 11).
[0116] To check where the cleavage occurred by thrombin treatment,
the protein band containing IL-11 (LV-) protein was obtained, and
subjected to amino acid sequencing. First, the purified
GST-IL11(LV-) protein was treated with thrombin for 3 h, and
separated by SDS-PAGE. Then, the proteins in the polyacrylamide gel
were transferred to PVDF membrane. After the band containing
IL-11(LV-) protein was identified, it was sliced away from the PVDF
membrane, and subjected to amino acid sequencing. It was confirmed
that the IL-11(LV-) has the sequence
Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg-Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp (SEQ ID NO:35) at its
N-terminus, suggesting that the Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser
(SEQ ID NO:7) sequence is enough for efficient thrombin
cleavage.
EXAMPLE 6
MBP-IL11
[0117] The MBP-IL11 expression plasmid, pMAL-c2-IL11, was
constructed by inserting a cDNA of human IL-11 into pMAL-c2 (FIG.
12). A cDNA encoding human IL-11 was obtained from pGEX4T-IL11(A)
by PCR. The oligonucleotide sequences for PCR were as follows:
TABLE-US-00014 (SEQ ID NO:36) 5': GAA TTC CCT CGA GGT TCA CCT CGA
GCT TCC EcoRI (SEQ ID NO:37) 3': GTC GAC TCA CAG CCG AGT CTT CAG
CAG SalI
[0118] The 5' primer was designed to contain the coding sequence
for Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7). The
EcoRI/SalI fragment containing IL-11 sequence was cloned into the
EcoRI/SalI site of the pMAL-c2 vector, producing pMAL-c2-IL11.
Therefore, pMAL-c2-IL111 has the same thrombin cleavage site as
pGEX-IL11(LV-) between the maltose binding domain and human IL-11
sequences.
[0119] The amino acid sequence of IL-11 downstream of the maltose
binding domain including the thrombin cleavage site is given below.
TABLE-US-00015 (SEQ ID NO:34)
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg-
Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp-Ser-Thr-Val-Leu-Leu-Thr-Arg-Ser-
Leu-Leu-Ala-Asp-Thr-Arg-Gln-Leu-Ala-Ala-Gln-Leu-
Arg-Asp-Lys-Phe-Pro-Ala-Asp-Gly-Asp-His-Asn-Leu-
Asp-Ser-Leu-Pro-Thr-Leu-Ala-Met-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ala-
Leu-Gly-Ala-Leu-Gln-Leu-Pro-Gly-Val-Leu-Thr-Arg-
Leu-Arg-Ala-Asp-Leu-Leu-Ser-Tyr-Leu-Arg-His-Val-
Gln-Trp-Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Gly-Gly-Ser-Ser-Leu-Lys-
Thr-Leu-Glu-Pro-Glu-Leu-Gly-Thr-Leu-Gln-Ala-Arg-
Leu-Asp-Arg-Leu-Leu-Arg-Arg-Leu-Gln-Leu-Leu-Met-
Ser-Arg-Leu-Ala-Leu-Pro-Gln-Pro-Pro-Pro-Asn-Pro-
Pro-Ala-Pro-Pro-Leu-Ala-Pro-Pro-Ser-Ser-Ala-Try-
Gly-Gly-Ile-Arg-Ala-Ala-His-Ala-Ile-Leu-Gly-Gly-
Leu-His-Leu-Thr-Leu-Asp-Trp-Ala-Val-Arg-Gly-Leu-
Leu-Leu-Leu-Lys-Thr-Arg-Leu
[0120] The expression plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21.
Transformants were inoculated in LB Broth supplemented with
ampicillin (50 .mu.g/ml final concentration), and incubated at
37.degree. C. until OD 600 reached 0.5, and IPTG was added to a
final concentration of 0.4 mM. Incubation was continued for 3 h,
and the cells were harvested by centrifugation. The expression of
MBP-IL11 was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The bacterial pellets were
resuspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.4 containing 200 mM
NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, and 1 mM sodium azide and lysed by sonication. The
supernatant containing target protein was applied to an amylose
(New England Biolabs) affinity column pre-equilibrated with 20 mM
Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.4 containing 200 mM NaCl, and 1 mM EDTA.
Following several washes, the bound fusion protein was eluted with
20 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.4 containing 200 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA,
and 10 mM maltose.
[0121] The purified fusion proteins were digested with thrombin and
analyzed by SDS-PAGE. One hundred micrograms of protein samples
were subjected to cleavage by 0.5 units thrombin in 20 mM Tris-HCl
buffer, pH 7.4 containing 200 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, and 10 mM
maltose, at 20.degree. C. Aliquots were removed from each reaction
at various time points (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h after
reaction), and heat-inactivated by boiling for 5 min to stop the
reaction. The fusion protein MBP-IL11 (60 kDa) gradually
disappeared, and the amount of IL11 (18 kDa) increased as reaction
time passed (FIG. 13).
[0122] To check where the cleavage occurred by thrombin treatment,
the protein band containing IL-11 protein was obtained, and
subjected to amino acid sequencing. First, the purified MBP-IL11
protein was treated with thrombin for 3 h, and separated by
SDS-PAGE. Then, the proteins in the polyacrylamide gel were
transferred to PVDF membrane. After the band containing IL-11
protein was identified, it was sliced away from the PVDF membrane,
and subjected to amino acid sequencing. It was confirmed that the
IL-11 has the sequence Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg-Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp (SEQ
ID NO:38) at its N-terminus, suggesting that the
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7) sequence is enough
for efficient thrombin cleavage.
EXAMPLE 7
HIS-IL11
[0123] The His-IL11 expression plasmid, pET19b-IL 11, was
constructed by inserting a cDNA of human IL-11 into pET-19b (FIG.
14). A cDNA encoding human IL-11 was obtained from pGEX4T-IL11(A)
by PCR. The oligonucleotide sequences for PCR were as follows:
TABLE-US-00016 (SEQ ID NO:39) 5': CAT ATG CCT CGA GGT TCA CCT CGA
GCT TCC NdeI (SEQ ID NO:40) 3': GGA TCC TCA CAG CCG AGT CTT CAG CAG
BamHI
[0124] The 5' primer was designed to contain the coding sequence
for Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7). The
NdeI/BamHI fragment containing IL-11 sequence was cloned into the
NdeI/BamHI site of the pET19b vector, generating pET19b-IL11.
Therefore, pET19b-IL11 has the same thrombin cleavage site as
pGEX-IL11(LV-) between the His tag and human IL-11 sequences.
[0125] The amino acid sequence of IL-11 downstream of the His tag
including the thrombin cleavage site is given below. TABLE-US-00017
(SEQ ID NO:34)
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg.dwnarw.-Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg-
Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp-Ser-Thr-Val-Leu-Leu-Thr-Arg-Ser-
Leu-Leu-Ala-Asp-Thr-Arg-Gln-Leu-Ala-Ala-Gln-Leu-
Arg-Asp-Lys-Phe-Pro-Ala-Asp-Gly-Asp-His-Asn-Leu-
Asp-Ser-Leu-Pro-Thr-Leu-Ala-Met-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ala-
Leu-Gly-Ala-Leu-Gln-Leu-Pro-Gly-Val-Leu-Thr-Arg-
Leu-Arg-Ala-Asp-Leu-Leu-Ser-Tyr-Leu-Arg-His-Val-
Gln-Trp-Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Gly-Gly-Ser-Ser-Leu-Lys-
Thr-Leu-Glu-Pro-Glu-Leu-Gly-Thr-Leu-Gln-Ala-Arg-
Leu-Asp-Arg-Leu-Leu-Arg-Arg-Leu-Gln-Leu-Leu-Met-
Ser-Arg-Leu-Ala-Leu-Pro-Gln-Pro-Pro-Pro-Asn-Pro-
Pro-Ala-Pro-Pro-Leu-Ala-Pro-Pro-Ser-Ser-Ala-Try-
Gly-Gly-Ile-Arg-Ala-Ala-His-Ala-Ile-Leu-Gly-Gly-
Leu-His-Leu-Thr-Leu-Asp-Trp-Ala-Val-Arg-Gly-Leu-
Leu-Leu-Leu-Lys-Thr-Arg-Leu
[0126] The expression plasmid was transformed into E. coli
BL21(DE3). Transformants were inoculated in LB Broth supplemented
with ampicillin (50 .mu.g/ml final concentration), and incubated at
37.degree. C. until OD 600 reached 0.5, and IPTG was added to a
final concentration of 1 mM. Incubation was continued for 3 h, and
the cells were harvested by centrifugation. The expression of
His-11 was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The bacterial pellets were
resuspended in 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.4 containing 0.5
M NaCl and lysed by sonication. The supernatant containing target
protein was applied to a Ni-Sepharose High Performance (Amersham
Biosciences) affinity column pre-equilibrated with 20 mM sodium
phosphate buffer, pH 7.4 containing 0.5 M NaCl and 20 mM imidazole.
Following several washes, the bound fusion protein was eluted with
20 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.4 containing 0.5 M NaCl and 500
mM imidazole.
[0127] The purified fusion proteins were digested with thrombin and
analyzed by SDS-PAGE. One hundred micrograms of protein samples
were subjected to cleavage by 0.5 units thrombin in 20 mM sodium
phosphate buffer, pH 7.4 containing 0.5 M NaCl and 500 mM
imidazole, at 20.degree. C. Aliquots were removed from each
reaction at various time points (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h
after reaction), and heat-inactivated by boiling for 5 min to stop
the reaction. The fusion protein His-IL11 (22 kDa) gradually
disappeared, and the amount of IL11 (18 kDa) increased as reaction
time passed (FIG. 15).
[0128] To check where the cleavage occurred by thrombin treatment,
the protein band containing IL-11 protein was obtained, and
subjected to amino acid sequencing. First, the purified His-IL11
protein was treated with thrombin for 3 h, and separated by
SDS-PAGE. Then, the proteins in the polyacrylamide gel were
transferred to PVDF membrane. After the band containing IL-11
protein was identified, it was sliced away from the PVDF membrane,
and subjected to amino acid sequencing. It was confirmed that the
IL-11 has the sequence Ala-Ser-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg-Ala-Glu-Leu-Asp (SEQ
ID NO:41) at its N-terminus, suggesting that the
Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ser (SEQ ID NO:7) sequence is enough
for efficient thrombin cleavage.
[0129] Having now fully described the invention, it will be
understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the same can
be performed within a wide and equivalent range of conditions,
formulations and other parameters without affecting the scope of
the invention or any embodiment thereof. All patents, patent
applications and publications cited herein are fully incorporated
by reference herein in their entirety.
Sequence CWU 1
1
42 1 6 PRT Artificial sequence Thrombin cleavage site 1 Leu Val Pro
Arg Gly Ser 1 5 2 6 PRT Artificial sequence Thrombin cleavage site
2 Met Tyr Pro Arg Gly Asn 1 5 3 6 PRT Artificial sequence Thrombin
cleavage site 3 Ile Arg Pro Lys Leu Lys 1 5 4 5 PRT Artificial
sequence Thrombin cleavage site 4 Leu Val Pro Arg Gly 1 5 5 6 PRT
Artificial sequence Peptide linker 5 Ser Gly Gly Gly Gly Gly 1 5 6
12 PRT Artificial sequence Cdc14p thrombin cleavage site 6 Ser Gly
Gly Gly Gly Gly Leu Val Pro Arg Gly Ser 1 5 10 7 8 PRT Artificial
sequence Peptide linker 7 Pro Arg Gly Ser Pro Arg Ala Ser 1 5 8 10
PRT Artificial sequence Peptide linker 8 Leu Val Pro Arg Gly Ser
Pro Arg Ala Ser 1 5 10 9 6 PRT Artificial sequence MRP14 thrombin
cleavage site 9 Asn Asn Pro Arg Gly His 1 5 10 6 PRT Artificial
sequence Fibrinopeptide A thrombin cleavage site 10 Gly Gly Val Arg
Gly Pro 1 5 11 6 PRT Artificial sequence Fibrinopeptide B thrombin
cleavage site 11 Phe Ser Ala Arg Gly His 1 5 12 27 DNA Artificial
sequence IL-11 PCR primer 12 ggatccccgc gagcttcccc agaccct 27 13 30
DNA Artificial sequence IL-11 PCR primer 13 gtcgacccct tatcacagcc
gagtcttcag 30 14 27 DNA Artificial sequence IL-11 mutagenesis
primer 14 ccagccaccc ccgaacccgc cggcgcc 27 15 27 DNA Artificial
sequence IL-11 mutagenesis primer 15 ggcgccggcg ggttcggggg tggctgg
27 16 4 PRT Artificial sequence Partial thrombin cleavage site 16
Pro Arg Ala Ser 1 17 177 PRT Artificial sequence hIL11(A) 17 Leu
Val Pro Arg Gly Ser Pro Arg Ala Ser Pro Asp Pro Arg Ala Glu 1 5 10
15 Leu Asp Ser Thr Val Leu Leu Thr Arg Ser Leu Leu Ala Asp Thr Arg
20 25 30 Gln Leu Ala Ala Gln Leu Arg Asp Lys Phe Pro Ala Asp Gly
Asp His 35 40 45 Asn Leu Asp Ser Leu Pro Thr Leu Ala Met Ser Ala
Gly Ala Leu Gly 50 55 60 Ala Leu Gln Leu Pro Gly Val Leu Thr Arg
Leu Arg Ala Asp Leu Leu 65 70 75 80 Ser Tyr Leu Arg His Val Gln Trp
Leu Arg Arg Ala Gly Gly Ser Ser 85 90 95 Leu Lys Thr Leu Glu Pro
Glu Leu Gly Thr Leu Gln Ala Arg Leu Asp 100 105 110 Arg Leu Leu Arg
Arg Leu Gln Leu Leu Met Ser Arg Leu Ala Leu Pro 115 120 125 Gln Pro
Pro Pro Asn Pro Pro Ala Pro Pro Leu Ala Pro Pro Ser Ser 130 135 140
Ala Tyr Gly Gly Ile Arg Ala Ala His Ala Ile Leu Gly Gly Leu His 145
150 155 160 Leu Thr Leu Asp Trp Ala Val Arg Gly Leu Leu Leu Leu Lys
Thr Arg 165 170 175 Leu 18 33 DNA Artificial sequence GST-Thymosin
Beta 4 PCR primer 18 ggatcccctc gagcttctga caaacccgat atg 33 19 30
DNA Artificial sequence GST-Thymosin Beta 4 PCR primer 19
gtcgacttac gattcgcctg cttgcttctc 30 20 6 PRT Artificial sequence
Partial thrombin cleavage site 20 Gly Ser Pro Arg Ala Ser 1 5 21 52
PRT Artificial sequence Thymosin Beta 4 21 Leu Val Pro Arg Gly Ser
Pro Arg Ala Ser Asp Lys Pro Asp Met Ala 1 5 10 15 Glu Ile Glu Lys
Phe Asp Lys Ser Lys Leu Lys Lys Thr Glu Thr Gln 20 25 30 Glu Lys
Asn Pro Leu Pro Ser Lys Glu Thr Ile Glu Gln Glu Lys Gln 35 40 45
Ala Gly Glu Ser 50 22 10 PRT Artificial sequence Thymosin Beta 4
N-terminal sequence 22 Ala Ser Asp Lys Pro Asp Met Ala Glu Ile 1 5
10 23 30 DNA Artificial sequence GST-IL6 PCR primer 23 ggatcccctc
gagcttcttt ccctacttca 30 24 27 DNA Artificial sequence GST-IL6 PCR
primer 24 gtcgacctag gtttgccgag tagatct 27 25 197 PRT Artificial
sequence IL-6 25 Leu Val Pro Arg Gly Ser Pro Arg Ala Ser Phe Pro
Thr Ser Gln Val 1 5 10 15 Arg Arg Gly Asp Phe Thr Glu Asp Thr Thr
Pro Asn Arg Pro Val Tyr 20 25 30 Thr Thr Ser Gln Val Gly Gly Leu
Ile Thr His Val Leu Trp Glu Ile 35 40 45 Val Glu Met Arg Lys Glu
Leu Cys Asn Gly Asn Ser Asp Cys Met Asn 50 55 60 Asn Asp Asp Ala
Leu Ala Glu Asn Asn Leu Lys Leu Pro Glu Ile Gln 65 70 75 80 Arg Asn
Asp Gly Cys Tyr Gln Thr Gly Tyr Asn Gln Glu Ile Cys Leu 85 90 95
Leu Lys Ile Ser Ser Gly Leu Leu Glu Tyr His Ser Tyr Leu Glu Tyr 100
105 110 Met Lys Asn Asn Leu Lys Asp Asn Lys Lys Asp Lys Ala Arg Val
Leu 115 120 125 Gln Arg Asp Thr Glu Thr Leu Ile His Ile Phe Asn Gln
Glu Val Lys 130 135 140 Asp Leu His Lys Ile Val Leu Pro Thr Pro Ile
Ser Asn Ala Leu Leu 145 150 155 160 Thr Asp Lys Leu Glu Ser Gln Lys
Glu Trp Leu Arg Thr Lys Thr Ile 165 170 175 Gln Phe Ile Leu Lys Ser
Leu Glu Glu Phe Leu Lys Val Thr Leu Arg 180 185 190 Ser Thr Arg Gln
Thr 195 26 10 PRT Artificial sequence IL-6 N-terminal sequence 26
Ala Ser Phe Pro Thr Ser Gln Val Arg Arg 1 5 10 27 7 PRT Artificial
sequence PAR4 thrombin cleavage site 27 Leu Pro Ala Pro Arg Gly Tyr
1 5 28 30 DNA Artificial sequence GST-PAR4 PCR primer 28 ggatcccctc
gagcttctat gtgggggcga 30 29 27 DNA Artificial sequence GST-PAR4 PCR
primer 29 gtcgactcag tgcaccaggg ccaggta 27 30 190 PRT Artificial
sequence PAR4 30 Leu Val Pro Arg Gly Ser Pro Arg Ala Ser Met Trp
Gly Arg Leu Leu 1 5 10 15 Leu Trp Pro Leu Val Leu Gly Phe Ser Leu
Ser Gly Gly Thr Gln Thr 20 25 30 Pro Ser Val Tyr Asp Glu Ser Gly
Ser Thr Gly Gly Gly Asp Asp Ser 35 40 45 Thr Pro Ser Ile Leu Pro
Ala Pro Arg Gly Tyr Pro Gly Gln Val Cys 50 55 60 Ala Asn Asp Ser
Asp Thr Leu Glu Leu Pro Asp Ser Ser Arg Ala Leu 65 70 75 80 Leu Leu
Gly Tyr Val Pro Thr Arg Leu Val Pro Ala Leu Tyr Gly Leu 85 90 95
Val Leu Val Val Gly Leu Pro Ala Asn Gly Leu Ala Leu Trp Val Leu 100
105 110 Ala Thr Gln Ala Pro Arg Leu Pro Ser Thr Met Leu Leu Met Asn
Leu 115 120 125 Ala Thr Ala Asp Leu Leu Leu Ala Leu Ala Leu Pro Pro
Arg Ile Ala 130 135 140 Tyr His Leu Arg Gly Gln Arg Tyr Pro Phe Gly
Glu Ala Ala Cys Arg 145 150 155 160 Leu Ala Thr Ala Ala Leu Tyr Gly
His Met Tyr Gly Ser Val Leu Leu 165 170 175 Leu Ala Ala Val Ser Leu
Asp Arg Tyr Leu Ala Leu Val His 180 185 190 31 8 PRT Artificial
sequence IL11 thrombin cleavage site 31 Pro Leu Gly Ser Pro Arg Ala
Ser 1 5 32 27 DNA Artificial sequence IL11 mutagenesis primer 32
caggggcccc ggggatcccc tcgagct 27 33 24 DNA Artificial sequence IL11
mutagenesis primer 33 agctcgaggg gatccccggg gctg 24 34 175 PRT
Artificial sequence IL-11(LV) 34 Pro Arg Gly Ser Pro Arg Ala Ser
Pro Asp Pro Arg Ala Glu Leu Asp 1 5 10 15 Ser Thr Val Leu Leu Thr
Arg Ser Leu Leu Ala Asp Thr Arg Gln Leu 20 25 30 Ala Ala Gln Leu
Arg Asp Lys Phe Pro Ala Asp Gly Asp His Asn Leu 35 40 45 Asp Ser
Leu Pro Thr Leu Ala Met Ser Ala Gly Ala Leu Gly Ala Leu 50 55 60
Gln Leu Pro Gly Val Leu Thr Arg Leu Arg Ala Asp Leu Leu Ser Tyr 65
70 75 80 Leu Arg His Val Gln Trp Leu Arg Arg Ala Gly Gly Ser Ser
Leu Lys 85 90 95 Thr Leu Glu Pro Glu Leu Gly Thr Leu Gln Ala Arg
Leu Asp Arg Leu 100 105 110 Leu Arg Arg Leu Gln Leu Leu Met Ser Arg
Leu Ala Leu Pro Gln Pro 115 120 125 Pro Pro Asn Pro Pro Ala Pro Pro
Leu Ala Pro Pro Ser Ser Ala Tyr 130 135 140 Gly Gly Ile Arg Ala Ala
His Ala Ile Leu Gly Gly Leu His Leu Thr 145 150 155 160 Leu Asp Trp
Ala Val Arg Gly Leu Leu Leu Leu Lys Thr Arg Leu 165 170 175 35 10
PRT Artificial sequence IL-11(LV) N-terminal sequence 35 Ala Ser
Pro Asp Pro Arg Ala Glu Leu Asp 1 5 10 36 30 DNA Artificial
sequence IL-11(A) PCR primer 36 gaattccctc gaggttcacc tcgagcttcc 30
37 27 DNA Artificial sequence IL-11(A) PCR primer 37 gtcgactcac
agccgagtct tcagcag 27 38 10 PRT Artificial sequence IL-11
N-terminal sequence 38 Ala Ser Pro Asp Pro Arg Ala Glu Leu Asp 1 5
10 39 30 DNA Artificial sequence His-IL11 PCR primer 39 catatgcctc
gaggttcacc tcgagcttcc 30 40 27 DNA Artificial sequence His-IL11 PCR
primer 40 ggatcctcac agccgagtct tcagcag 27 41 10 PRT Artificial
sequence IL-11 N-terminal sequence 41 Ala Ser Pro Asp Pro Arg Ala
Glu Leu Asp 1 5 10 42 15 PRT Artificial sequence IL11(A) 42 Ala Ser
Pro Asp Pro Arg Ala Glu Leu Asp Ser Thr Val Leu Leu 1 5 10 15
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