Expression and purification of (15)N- and (13)C-isotope labeled 40-residue human Alzheimer's ?-amyloid peptide for NMR-based structural analysis.

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Expression and purification of (15)N- and (13)C-isotope labeled 40-residue human Alzheimer's ?-amyloid peptide for NMR-based structural analysis.

Expression and purification of (15)N- and (13)C-isotope labeled 40-residue human Alzheimer's ?-amyloid peptide for NMR-based structural analysis.

Protein Expr Purif. 2011 May 27;

Authors: Long F, Cho W, Ishii Y

Amyloid fibrils of Alzheimer's ?-amyloid peptide (A?) are a primary component of amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Enormous attention has been given to the structural features and functions of A? in amyloid fibrils and other type of aggregates in associated with development of AD. This report describes an efficient protocol to express and purify high-quality 40-residue A?(1-40), the most abundant A? in brains, for structural studies by NMR spectroscopy. Over-expression of A?(1-40) with glutathione S-transferase (GST) tag connected by a Factor Xa recognition site (IEGR(?)) in Escherichia coli resulted in the formation of insoluble inclusion bodies even with the soluble GST tag. This problem was resolved by efficient recovery of the GST-A? fusion protein from the inclusion bodies using 0.5% (w/v) sodium lauroyl sarcosinate as solubilizing agent and subsequent purification by affinity chromatography using a glutathione agarose column. The removal of the GST tag by Factor Xa enzymatic cleavage and purification by HPLC yielded as much as ~7mg and ~1.5mg of unlabeled A?(1-40) and uniformly (15)N- and/or (13)C-protein A?(1-40) from 1L of the cell culture, respectively. Mass spectroscopy of unlabeled and labeled A? and (1)H/(15)N HSQC solution NMR spectrum of the obtained (15)N-labeled A? in the monomeric form confirmed the expression of native A?(1-40). It was also confirmed by electron micrography and solid-state NMR analysis that the purified A?(1-40) self-assembles into ?-sheet rich amyloid fibrils. To the best of our knowledge, our protocol offers the highest yields among published protocols for production of recombinant A?(1-40) samples that are amendable for an NMR-based structural analysis. The protocol may be applied to efficient preparation of other amyloid-forming proteins and peptides that are (13)C- and (15)N-labeled for NMR experiments.

PMID: 21640828 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]



Source: PubMed