Full-length versus truncated α-factor secretory signal sequences for expression of recombinant human insulin precursor in yeast Pichia pastoris: a comparison.

BACKGROUND: Human insulin was the first FDA-approved biopharmaceutical drug produced through recombinant DNA technology. The previous studies successfully expressed recombinant human insulin precursors (HIP) in Pichia pastoris truncated and full-length α-factor recombinant clones. The matting α-factor (Matα), a signal secretion, direct the HIP protein into the culture media. This study aimed to compare the HIP expression from full-length and truncated α-factor secretory signals clones that grown in two types of media, buffered methanol complex medium (BMMY) and methanol basal salt medium (BSMM). RESULTS: ImageJ analysis of the HIP's SDS-PAGE shows that the average HIP expression level of the recombinant P. pastoris truncated α-factor clone (CL4) was significantly higher compared to the full-length (HF7) when expressed in both media. Western blot analysis showed that the expressed protein was the HIP. The α-factor protein structure was predicted using the AlphaFold and visualized using UCSF ChimeraX to confirm the secretion ability for both clones. CONCLUSIONS: CL4 clone, which utilized a truncated α-factor in the P. pastoris HIP expression cassette, significantly expressed HIP 8.97 times (in BMMY) and 1.17 times (in BSMM) higher than HF7 clone, which used a full-length α-factor secretory signal. This research confirmed that deletion of some regions of the secretory signal sequence significantly improved the efficiency of HIP protein expression in P. pastoris.

Expression, purification, and characterization of the Degludec precursor DesB30.

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease, for which recombinant human insulin is the most effective and mainstream treatment. DesB30 is an insulin analogue in which the B chain lacks amino acid 30 (Thr) compared with human insulin. This analogue can be used to produce the long-acting insulin Degludec or Detemir. In this study, a spacer peptide was added before the sequence of DesB30 and the C-peptide was replaced with AAK, a short connecting peptide. The target gene was cloned under the control of AOX1 and expressed as a secretory protein in Pichia pastoris. A high-yield recombination strain was selected by screening for resistance to G418. The basal salts medium was optimized and a lower salt concentration medium was found to show the best effects. Both media were used to compare the yield of high-density fermentation. The maximum yield reached 4.51 g/L in 1/2 basal salt medium, which is the highest reported yield to date. The insulin precursor, which is single-stranded, was purified by weak cation exchange chromatograph and preparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), from which 73.39% of product was recovered at over 95% purity. The double-stranded protein (DesB30) was obtained by digesting the insulin precursor with trypsin. Using preparative RP-HPLC, the product was obtained with over 95% purity. Finally, the structure of DesB30 was confirmed.

Expression, purification and biological activity of monomeric insulin precursors from methylotrophic yeasts.

The methylotrophic yeasts Pichia pastoris and Hansenula polymorpha have been used for the production of recombinant monomeric insulin precursor (MIP). Recombinant plasmids with one, two and four cassettes of the MIP gene have been successfully constructed in the pPICZαA expression vector to study the effects of gene copy number on MIP production. The MIP protein can be detected by dot-blot analysis from the culture broth of P. pastoris KM71H 24 h after placement in MMH induction medium. The secretion levels of MIP protein in culture broth at 72 h after induction indicated that P. pastoris KM71H with one cassette of the MIP gene had highest MIP protein levels (4.19 ±â€¯0.96 mg L-1). The transcription levels of the MIP gene increased proportionately with copy number. However, the amount of secreted MIP protein showed no correlation. The MIP molecular mass was 5756.951 Da, as confirmed by typical MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The MIP protein in culture broth was purified by two steps purification including SP Sepharose Fast Flow chromatography followed by ultrafiltration (10 kDa MW cutoff). The percentage of MIP recovery after the two-step purification was 70%, with a single band in a native-PAGE. The biological activity of tryptic hydrolyzed MIP was determined via the expression of the glucose transporter 4 gene (GLUT4) in H9c2 (2-1) cell line by RT-qPCR, and the results demonstrated that the MIP protein can induce glucose uptake and upregulation of GLUT4 mRNA transcription at 3 h and that this activity was related to Humalog® insulin.

Reduced methanol input induces increased protein output by AOX1 promoter in a trans-acting elements engineered Pichia pastoris.

High oxygen consumption and heat release caused by methanol catabolism usually bring difficulties to industrial scale-up and cost for protein expression driven by methanol-induced AOX1 promoter in Pichia pastoris. Here, reduced methanol feeding levels were investigated for expression of insulin precursor in a trans-acting elements engineered P. pastoris strain MF1-IP. Insulin precursor expression level reached 6.69 g/(L supernatant) at the methanol feeding rate of 6.67 mL/(h·L broth), which was 59% higher than that in the wild-type strain WT-IP at the methanol feeding rate of 12 mL/(h·L broth). Correspondingly, the insulin precursor expression level in fermentation broth and maximum specific insulin precursor production rate was 137 and 77% higher than the WT-IP, respectively. However, oxygen consumption and heat evolution were reduced, and the highest oxygen consumption rate and heat evolution rate of the MF1-IP were 18.0 and 37.7% lower than the WT-IP, respectively.

[A method to increase the production of insulin precursor in Pichia pastoris].

To improve the yield of insulin precursor (PI), we constructed a recombinant expression vector pPIC9K-PI and transformed it into Pichia pastoris GS115 using electroporation. After screening, a mutant strain CL012 with 12 copies was obtained on the YPDS plate containing 4.0 mg/mL G418. Then, the components of SNAREs (Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment receptor proteins), SNC2 and SNC2-SSO2, were expressed in the strain CL012 to explore the effect of SNAREs on the yield of PI. In shake flask culture, the strains expressing SNC2 and SNC2-SSO2 yielded PI of 1.89 mg/L and 2.21 mg/L after methanol induction for 96 h, which were improved by 23.53% and 44.44% compared to that of strain CL012 (1.53 mg/L), respectively. Further, in a 5-L bioreactor, the yield of PI with strain CL012 was 53 mg/L for high-density fermentation, after 96 h of methanol induction, which was 34.64-fold higher than that of shake culture. The strains expressing SNC2 and SNC2-SSO2 yielded the PI of 64 mg/L and 78 mg/L, which were respectively increased by 20.75% and 47.17%, compared to that of strain CL012. This work indicated that SNAREs components promoted the secretion of PI to improve its heterologous expression in P. pastoris.

A method to increase the production of insulin precursor in Pichia pastoris / 生物工程学报

To improve the yield of insulin precursor (PI), we constructed a recombinant expression vector pPIC9K-PI and transformed it into Pichia pastoris GS115 using electroporation. After screening, a mutant strain CL012 with 12 copies was obtained on the YPDS plate containing 4.0 mg/mL G418. Then, the components of SNAREs (Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment receptor proteins), SNC2 and SNC2-SSO2, were expressed in the strain CL012 to explore the effect of SNAREs on the yield of PI. In shake flask culture, the strains expressing SNC2 and SNC2-SSO2 yielded PI of 1.89 mg/L and 2.21 mg/L after methanol induction for 96 h, which were improved by 23.53% and 44.44% compared to that of strain CL012 (1.53 mg/L), respectively. Further, in a 5-L bioreactor, the yield of PI with strain CL012 was 53 mg/L for high-density fermentation, after 96 h of methanol induction, which was 34.64-fold higher than that of shake culture. The strains expressing SNC2 and SNC2-SSO2 yielded the PI of 64 mg/L and 78 mg/L, which were respectively increased by 20.75% and 47.17%, compared to that of strain CL012. This work indicated that SNAREs components promoted the secretion of PI to improve its heterologous expression in P. pastoris.

High-density Expression of Recombinant Porcine Insulin Precursor by Pichia pastoris / 微生物学通报

The recombinaut porcine insulin precursor(PIP)produced by Pichia pastoris in shake-flask and 501.fermenter was investigated respectively.The results indicated that 60h induction time length and 2.0%～2.5% methanol addition every day was optimum in shake- flask.The process in 50L fermenter was consisted of batch,feed-batch and induction phases.The relationship between dry cell weight(y) and culture time (t) in growth phase(batch and feed-batch phase)could be described by model y=0.6525e~(0.1907t).Glycerol and ammonia were almost used for cell growth and maintain,and no by-product was observed in batch and fed-batch phase Only 80% ammonia and 70% methanol were used by cell in induction phase.By comparison the results of shake-flask and 50L fermenter,it was concluded that the limit- ing factor in the fermentation of shake-flask and 50L fermenter was dissolved oxygen(DO)and.carbon source,respectively.When scaling the result of shake-flask to 501.fermenter,the control strategy was adapted for 50L fermenter by increasing the feed rate of methanol and the maximum PIP concentration reached 1.72 g/L.