Recombinant production of mecasermin in E. coli expression system.

Human Insulin-like growth factor 1 (hIGF-1) consists of 70 amino acids in a single chain with three intermolecular disulfide bridges possessing valuable therapeutic effects. To date, numerous variants of specifically engineered hIGF-1 have been produced so as to improve hIGF-1 biological activity, stability and stronger binding to IGF-1 receptor. Mecasermin is one of the modified variants with one amino acid substitution near the N-terminal (T4I) approved for the treatment of growth failure diabetes, wound healing, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and severe primary IGF-1 deficiency. No scientific report for recombinant production of mecasermin in Escherichia coli (E. coli) expression system has been sofar reported. In the present study, we therefore investigated the overexpression of mecasermin in two different E. coli strains in order to obtain higher yield of recombinant protein. To achieve this goal, mecasermin DNA encoding sequence was designed based on polypeptide sequence, optimized according to E. coli codon preference, and cloned in pET15b. Recombinant vector, pET15-mecasermin, transferred into two E. coli strains rigami B (DE3) and BL21 (DE3) and induced for expression in a small scale. Results revealed the E. coli Origami B (DE3) expression system was a preferable host for mecasermin production due to its high expression level being around twice as much as BL21 (DE3). Large scale mecasermin production was performed in batch culture and produced recombinant protein specifically confirmed by western blotting and mass spectroscopy. Since major part of recombinant mecasermin was expressed as inclusion body, isolation and refolding was accomplished through developed purification procedure, and finally recombinant protein was successfully purified by gel filtration chromatography.

The antimicrobial effects and metabolomic footprinting of carboxyl-capped bismuth nanoparticles against Helicobacter pylori.

Organic salts of bismuth are currently used as antimicrobial agents against Helicobacter pylori. This study evaluated the antibacterial effect of elemental bismuth nanoparticles (Bi NPs) using a serial agar dilution method for the first time against different clinical isolates and a standard strain of H. pylori. The Bi NPs were biologically prepared and purified by a recently described method and subjected to further characterization by infrared spectroscopy and anti-H. pylori evaluation. Infrared spectroscopy results showed the presence of carboxyl functional groups on the surface of biogenic Bi NPs. These biogenic nanoparticles showed good antibacterial activity against all tested H. pylori strains. The resulting MICs varied between 60 and 100 µg/ml for clinical isolates of H. pylori and H. pylori (ATCC 26695). The antibacterial effect of bismuth ions was also tested against all test strains. The antimicrobial effect of Bi ions was lower than antimicrobial effect of bismuth in the form of elemental NPs. The effect of Bi NPs on metabolomic footprinting of H. pylori was further evaluated by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Exposure of H. pylori to an inhibitory concentration of Bi NPs (100 µg/ml) led to release of some metabolites such as acetate, formic acid, glutamate, valine, glycine, and uracil from bacteria into their supernatant. These findings confirm that these nanoparticles interfere with Krebs cycle, nucleotide, and amino acid metabolism and shows anti-H. pylori activity.

Biosynthesis of bismuth nanoparticles using Serratia marcescens isolated from the Caspian Sea and their characterisation.

Today, synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) using micro-organisms has been receiving increasing attention. In this investigation, a bismuth-reducing bacterium was isolated from the Caspian Sea in Northern Iran and was used for intracellular biosynthesis of elemental bismuth NPs. This isolate was identified as non-pigmented Serratia marcescens using conventional identification assays and the 16s rDNA fragment amplification method and used to prepare bismuth NPs. The biogenic bismuth NPs were released by liquid nitrogen and highly purified using an n-octanol water two-phase extraction system. Different characterisations of the purified NPs such as particle shapes, size and purity were carried out with different instruments. The energy-dispersive X-ray and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns demonstrated that the purified NPs consisted of only bismuth and are amorphous. In addition, the transmission electron micrograph showed that the small NPs formed larger aggregated NPs around <150 nm. Although the chemical syntheses of elemental bismuth NPs have been reported in the literature, the biological synthesis of elemental bismuth NPs has not been published yet. This is the first report to demonstrate a biological method for synthesising bismuth NPs and their purification with a simple solvent partitioning method.

Molecular cloning of gluconobacter oxydans DSM 2003 xylitol dehydrogenase gene.

Due to the widespread applications of xylitol dehydrogenase, an enzyme used for the production of xylitol, the present study was designed for the cloning of xylitol dehydrogenase gene from Glcunobacter oxydans DSM 2003. After extraction of genomic DNA from this bacterium, xylitol dehydrogenase gene was replicated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The amplified product was entered into pTZ57R cloning vector by T/A cloning method and transformation was performed by heat shocking of the E. coli XL1-blue competent cells. Following plasmid preparation, the cloned gene was digested out and ligated into the expression vector pET-22b(+). Electrophoresis of PCR product showed a 789 bp band. Recombinant plasmid (rpTZ57R) was then constructed. This plasmid was double digested with XhoI and EcoRI resulting in 800 bp and 2900 bp bands. The obtained insert was ligated into pET-22b(+) vector and its orientation was confirmed with XhoI and BamHI restriction enzymes. In conclusion, in the present study the recombinant expression vector containing xylitol dehydrogenase gene has been constructed and can be used for the production of this enzyme in high quantities.

Quantification of ergovaline using HPLC and mass spectrometry in Iranian Neotyphodium infected tall fescue.

Ergovaline, the main ergopeptine alkaloid produced in tall fescue (Fescue arundinacea Schreb.) infected with endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum Morgan- Jones & Gams), is known to cause tall fescue toxicosis. This study was conducted to examine the presence of fungal endophytes in five populations of tall fescue collected from various regions of Iran. The existence of Neotyphodium mycelia in the tissues of the samples was confirmed by microscopic examination, and the isolation was performed from leaf tissues of the hosts on potato dextrose agar. All isolates were confirmed as the Neotyphodium species by PCR, using specific primers. Mass detection and determination of ergovaline were performed by HPLC at three plant growth stages. Ergovaline was detected in all isolates, with the mean concentrations of 0.24 to 3.48 µg/g dry matter of different populations for the whole three plant growth stages. The differences in ergovaline content between plant populations and sampling time were statistically significant. This is the first report of ergovaline content in endophyte infected Fescue arundinacea from natural grasslands in Iran.

Isomalt production by cloning, purifying and expressing of the MDH gene from Pseudomonas fluorescens DSM 50106 in different strains of E. coli.

A NADH-dependent mannitol dehydrogenase gene (mtlD) was cloned from Pseudomonas fluorescens, subcloned into an expression vector (pDEST110) and entered into different strains of E. coli to compare their protein expression and the enzyme specific activity. Purifications were accomplished by Ni(2+)-NTA affinity chromatography. Using this approach, the efficiency of purification process significantly increased (up to 90%) so that the purified enzyme gave a sharp single band (55 kDa) in SDS-PAGE. The results showed that among the strains, BL21 (DE3) plysS exhibited the maximum expression level of MDH(mannitol dehydrogenase) (11 mg L(-1)). Results from activity assay with fructose as substrate also showed that in this strain the specific activity of 63 U mg(-1) protein monitored for the enzyme, the record not reported before. Resazurin staining also indicated that the enzyme reduced fructose, whereas oxidized other substrates including mannitol, sorbitol and arabitol under optimal assay condition. From HPLC analysis it was showed for the first time that the enzyme could convert substrate isomaltulose to the specific products, GPM and GPS. Interestingly, because of the high specificity of the enzyme for substrate, the method can be used as an alternative approach to substitute nonspecific conventional method of isomalt production.

Crystal structure of the surfactin synthetase-activating enzyme sfp: a prototype of the 4'-phosphopantetheinyl transferase superfamily.

The Bacillus subtilis Sfp protein activates the peptidyl carrier protein (PCP) domains of surfactin synthetase by transferring the 4'-phosphopantetheinyl moiety of coenzyme A (CoA) to a serine residue conserved in all PCPs. Its wide PCP substrate spectrum renders Sfp a biotechnologically valuable enzyme for use in combinatorial non-ribosomal peptide synthesis. The structure of the Sfp-CoA complex determined at 1.8 A resolution reveals a novel alpha/beta-fold exhibiting an unexpected intramolecular 2-fold pseudosymmetry. This suggests a similar fold and dimerization mode for the homodimeric phosphopantetheinyl transferases such as acyl carrier protein synthase. The active site of Sfp accommodates a magnesium ion, which is complexed by the CoA pyrophosphate, the side chains of three acidic amino acids and one water molecule. CoA is bound in a fashion that differs in many aspects from all known CoA-protein complex structures. The structure reveals regions likely to be involved in the interaction with the PCP substrate.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of Sfp: a phosphopantetheinyl transferase of modular peptide synthetases.

The Bacillus subtilis Sfp protein is required for the non-ribosomal biosynthesis of the lipoheptapeptide antibiotic surfactin. It converts seven peptidyl carrier protein (PCP) domains of the surfactin synthetase SfrA-(A-C) to their active holo-forms by 4'-phosphopantetheinylation. The B. subtilis sfp gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and its gene product was purified to homogeneity and crystallized. Well diffracting single crystals were obtained from Sfp as well as from a selenomethionyl derivative, using sodium formate as a precipitant. The crystals belong to the tetragonal space group P41212/P43212, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 65.3, c = 150.5 A. They diffract beyond 2.8 A and contain one molecule in the asymmetric unit.