Recombinant Production and Characterization of a New Toxin from Cryptops iheringi Centipede Venom Revealed by Proteome and Transcriptome Analysis.

Among the Chilopoda class of centipede, the Cryptops genus is one of the most associated with envenomation in humans in the metropolitan region of the state of São Paulo. To date, there is no study in the literature about the toxins present in its venom. Thus, in this work, a transcriptomic characterization of the Cryptops iheringi venom gland, as well as a proteomic analysis of its venom, were performed to obtain a toxin profile of this species. These methods indicated that 57.9% of the sequences showed to be putative toxins unknown in public databases; among them, we pointed out a novel putative toxin named Cryptoxin-1. The recombinant form of this new toxin was able to promote edema in mice footpads with massive neutrophils infiltration, linking this toxin to envenomation symptoms observed in accidents with humans. Our findings may elucidate the role of this toxin in the venom, as well as the possibility to explore other proteins found in this work.

Influence of the expression vector and its elements on recombinant human prolactin synthesis in Escherichia coli; co-directional orientation of replication and transcription is highly critical.

The aim of the present work was to define a bacterial expression system that is particularly efficient for the synthesis of recombinant human prolactin (hPRL). In previous work, based on experiments that were basically carried out in parallel with the present ones, the synthesis of rec-hPRL by the p1813-hPRL vector in E. coli HB2151 was >500 mg/L, while it was much lower here (2.5-4-fold), in the RB791 and RRI strains. The highest positive influence on rec-hPRL synthesis was due to the transcription-replication co-orientation of hPRL cDNA and the ori/antibiotic resistance gene, responsible for up to a ~ 5-6-fold higher expression yield. In conclusion, this work confirmed that each bacterial strain of E. coli has a genetic background that can allow a different level of heterologous protein synthesis. The individual study of each element indicated that its action critically depends on the reading orientation in which it is located inside the vector: co-directional orientation of replication and transcription, in fact, greatly increased the level of rec-hPRL expression.

Human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (hBMP-2) characterization by physical-chemical, immunological and biological assays.

Commercially available preparations of methionyl-human BMP-2 and CHO-derived hBMP-2, which belongs to the transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) superfamily, were used for a complete characterization. This protein is an extremely efficient osteoinductor that plays an important role during bone regeneration and embryonic development. Characterization was carried out via SDS-PAGE and Western blotting, followed by reversed-phase HPLC, size-exclusion HPLC and MALDI-TOF-MS. The classical in vitro bioassay, based on the induction of alkaline phosphatase activity in C2C12 cells, confirmed that hBMP-2 biological activity is mostly related to the dimeric form, being ~ 4-fold higher for the CHO-derived glycosylated form when compared with the E. coli counterpart. The E. coli-derived met-hBMP-2 has shown, by MALDI-TOF-MS, a large presence of the bioactive dimer. A more complex molecular mass (MM) distribution was found for the CHO-derived product, whose exact MM has never been reported because of its variable glycosylation. A method based on RP-HPLC was set up, allowing a quantitative and qualitative hBMP-2 determination even directly on ongoing culture media. Considering that hBMP-2 is highly unstable, presenting moreover an extremely high aggregate value, we believe that these data pave the way to a necessary characterization of this important factor when synthesized by DNA recombinant techniques in different types of hosts.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a novel sphingomyelinase D from Loxosceles gaucho venom.

Brown spider envenomation results in dermonecrosis, intravascular coagulation, haemolysis and renal failure, mainly owing to the action of sphingomyelinases D (SMases D), which catalyze the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin to produce ceramide 1-phosphate and choline or the hydrolysis of lysophosphatidylcholine to produce lysophosphatidic acid. Here, the heterologous expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of LgRec1, a novel SMase D from Loxosceles gaucho venom, are reported. The crystals belonged to space group P21212, with unit-cell parameters a = 52.98, b = 62.27, c = 84.84 Šand diffracted to a maximum resolution of 2.6 Å.

Engineered mammalian vector to express EGFP-tagged proteins as biomarkers.

Due to its specialized post-translational machinery, mammalian cells represent an interesting and not fully explored system to express snake toxins. Therefore, in this work, we built up a new mammalian expression vector that enhances the feasibility to use mammalian cells to express proteins as biomarkers. Among the modifications, an Igκ signal peptide and a 6xHis tag were inserted into this vector in order to drive the protein to the supernatant and simplify its purification, respectively. In addition, to facilitate selection of high producing clones and also tag proteins which may function as a biomarker, the sequence of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was added. The efficiency of the resulting vector (pToxEGFP) was tested by cloning and expressing the viper venom disintegrin echistatin (Ech) that due to its affinity to integrin αvß3 was tested as a molecular marker. Expression of EGFP-Ech was achieved in CHO-DXB11 cells resulting in a yield of 22 mg/L. The binding activity of this chimera protein was successfully achieved on human umbilical vein endothelial cells which highly express αvß3. The results indicate that pToxEGFP may constitute an efficient and versatile expression vector to express tagged proteins with potential biomarker activity.

Structural and biological characterization of Nattectin, a new C-type lectin from the venomous fish Thalassophryne nattereri.

Lectins are glycan-binding receptors that recognize glycan epitopes on foreign pathogens and in the host systems. They can be involved in functions that include innate immunity, development, immune regulation and homeostasis. Several lectins have been purified and characterized from fish species. In this work, using cation-exchange chromatography, a galactose-specific lectin belonging to the family of C-type lectins was isolated from the venom of the Brazilian venomous fish Thalassophryne nattereri. Nattectin is a basic, non-glycosilated, 15 kDa monomeric protein. It exhibits hemagglutination activity that is independent of Ca(2+). We also demonstrated a lectin activity for Nattectin in the innate immune system, especially in neutrophil mobilization in mice, indicating that marine organisms are source of immunomodulator agents.

Generation of polyclonal antibodies against recombinant human glucocerebrosidase produced in Escherichia coli.

Deficiency of the lysosomal glucocerebrosidase (GCR) enzyme results in Gaucher's disease, the most common inherited storage disorder. Treatment consists of enzyme replacement therapy by the administration of recombinant GCR produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells. The production of anti-GCR antibodies has already been described with placenta-derived human GCR that requires successive chromatographic procedures. Here, we report a practical and efficient method to obtain anti-GCR polyclonal antibodies against recombinant GCR produced in Escherichia coli and further purified by a single step through nickel affinity chromatography. The purified GCR was used to immunize BALB/c mice and the induction of anti-GCR antibodies was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The specificity of the antiserum was also evaluated by western blot analysis against recombinant GCR produced by COS-7 cells or against endogenous GCR of human cell lines. GCR was strongly recognized by the produced antibodies, either as cell-associated or as secreted forms. The detected molecular masses of 59-66 kDa are in accordance to the expected size for glycosylated GCR. The GCR produced in E. coli would facilitate the production of polyclonal (shown here) and monoclonal antibodies and their use in the characterization of new biosimilar recombinant GCRs coming in the near future.