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Bacterial protein expression and purification discussion



Bacterial protein expression and purification discussion

I am working with the pBAD bacterial his tag expression system from
Invitrogen, and am trying to purify the his-tag protein. I have checked
a number of methods to lyse the cells to release the protein, but in
each case the vast majority of my protein stays in the pellet. I have
used lysosyme, freeze thaw, sonication and NP-40 (NP-40 followed by
freeze thaw seemed to work the best). I even tried 8M urea, even though
I'd prefer to use native conditions. Does any one have any
recommendations of how to generate a lysate which will contain the bulk
of my protein?

Do you know that your recombinant protein is not going into inclusion
bodies? They are quite resistant to most lysis methods and will require
harsh treatment to solubilize - on the other hand, the inclusion bodies
can be used as a first round purification step.

How would one tell if the protein expressed is going into inclusion bodies?
>


If your protein is in the pellet after cell lysis and
centrifugation (if that is your question). If what you want
to know beforehand if your protein is likely to go into
inclusion body, this is more difficult. The presence of
disulphide bonds is likely to result in protein going into
inclusion body. The presence of hydrophobic patches may
also affect solubility, but that is difficult to tell
without knowing the structure of the protein, although
structure prediction can sometimes help.

> A separate question: I would like to express a recombinant protein in
> E.coli, ideally getting high yields in the supernatant (I can add a signal
> peptide in front of my protein). Is anyone aware of any good
> protocols/vectors for this job?


Generally, the presence of a fusion partner helps with
protein solubility, although lots of proteins are soluble
without any fusion partner. If you are worried about
solubility, maltose-binding protein (use pMal vectors from
NEB) is supposed to be best at promoting solubility. See


Kapust RB, Waugh DS, Protein Sci 1999 Aug;8(8):1668-74


Expressing your protein at low temperature can also help
with solubility. There is, however, no guarantee that any
protein will be soluble. You can always try to refold your
protein should it ends up in the inclusion body.

We have had good luck growing cells at lower temperatures than 37oC (as low
as 15oC). The slower metabolism seems to promote correct folding of your
protein.

Last update 18-Jun-2002, Rating Good of 16 votes.


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