mhhhhhhssgvdlgtenlyfq*smRPQPGDGERRYREASARKKIRLDRKYIVSCKQTEVPLSVPWDPSNQVYLSYNNVSSLKMLVAKDNWVLSSEISQVRLYTLEDDKFLSFHMEMVVHVDAAQAFLLLSDLRQRPEWDKHYRSVELVQQVDEDDAIYHVTSPALGGHTKPQDFVILASRRKPCDNGDPYVIALRSVTLPTHRETPEYRRGETLCSGFCLWREGDQLTKVSYYNQATPGVLNYVTTNVAGLSSEFYTTFKACEQFLLDNRNDLAPSLQTL
SeMet labeled protein
Cells from glycerol stock were grown in 2 x 70 ml LB supplemented with 100 µg/ml kanamycin and 34 μg/ml chloramphenicol at 30 °C overnight. 90 ml of the overnight culture were used to inoculate 6 bottles with 1.5 l minimal medium (without amino acids) supplemented with 50 µg/ml kanamycin and approximately 500 µl Dow Corning anti-foam RD emulsion 63213 4D (BDH Silicone Products) per bottle. The cultures were grown in a LEX bioreactor system (Harbinger Biotechnology) at 37 °C until OD600 reached ~1. The cultures were down-tempered to 18 °C, amino acids were added and expression of chaperones was induced by addition of 2 ng/ml tetracycline. One hour later, expression of target protein was induced by addition of 0.5 mM IPTG. The expression was allowed to continue at 18 °C overnight. Cells were harvested the following morning by centrifugation (4,400 x g, 10 min, 4 °C). The resulting cell pellet (79 g from 9 liter culture) was resuspended in lysis buffer (1ml/g cell pellet) supplemented with 6 tablets of Complete EDTA-free protease inhibitor (Roche Applied Science) and 12000 U Benzonase (Merck) and stored at -80 °C.
Composition of Minimal media: 25 mM Na2HPO4, 25 mM KH2PO4, 50 mM NH4Cl, 5 mM Na2SO4, 0.4% (w/v) glucose, 2mM MgSO4, 0.1mM CaCl2, 1.0 µM MnCl2, 10 µM FeSO4.
Mix of amino acids added per liter culture (Van Duyne, G. D., J. Mol. Biol. 229, 105-124 (1993)): 100 mg each of lysine, threonine, phenylalanine and 50 mg each of leucine, isoleucine, valine, L(+)-selenomethionine.
Procedure
Purification of the native protein was performed as a two step process on an ÄKTAxpress system (GE Healthcare). Prior to purification, columns were equilibrated with IMAC wash1 buffer and gel filtration buffer, respectively. The filtered lysate was loaded onto the Ni-charged HiTrap Chelating column and washed with IMAC wash1 buffer followed by IMAC wash2 buffer. Bound protein was eluted from the IMAC column with IMAC elution buffer and automatically loaded onto the gel filtration column. Fractions containing the target protein were pooled into two samples and subsequently concentrated using an Amicon Ultra-15 centrifugal filter device, 10,000 NMWL (Millipore). The concentration was measured to 4.3/5.7 mg/ml in a volume of 2 x 0.3 ml and the samples were stored at -80 ºC. Purification of the SeMet enriched protein was performed in basically the same way. The filtered lysate was purified by IMAC and gel filtration chromatography followed by a concentration step. The final SeMet-protein concentration was 11.6 mg/ml in a volume of 6.5 ml.
Tag removal
The N-terminal histidine tag was proteolytically removed by incubating native protein (5.7 mg/ml in 0.3 ml) with His-tagged TEV protease at a molar ratio of 20:1. The proteolytic reaction went to completion, as judged by SDS-PAGE. The volume of the reaction mixture was adjusted to approximately 1.5 ml with GF buffer containing 20 mM imidazole. The target protein was subsequently purified from tag and protease by passing it over a Ni-charged 1 ml HiTrap Chelating HP column (GE Healthcare) pre-equilibrated with GF buffer containing 20 mM imidazole. The cleaved protein was concentrated and the buffer was changed to GF buffer with 2 mM TCEP using a centrifugal filter device. The final protein concentration was determined to 11.3 mg/ml in a volume of 0.1 ml. The identity of the protein was confirmed by mass spectrometry. The histidine tag removal of SeMet labeled protein was achieved in basically the same way as described for the native protein. Purified SeMet labeled protein (11.6 mg/ml) was incubated with TEV protease at 4 ºC over the weekend, passed over a Ni-charged 1 ml HiTrap Chelating HP column and concentrated to a final concentration of 24.1 mg/ml in 0.9 ml.