New ELISA for B cell-activating factor.

BACKGROUND: The B cell-activating factor of the TNF family (BAFF) is upregulated in autoimmune diseases, but a number of conflicting results have cast doubts on the reliability of the ELISA protocols currently used for its quantification. This situation led us to develop a new ELISA for the measurement of BAFF. METHODS: BAFF was purified for use alongside nonglycosylated recombinant BAFF. Two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and two polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) to BAFF were used. RESULTS: The optimization process showed that the pAb format was preferable to the mAb format as capture antibody, because the pAbs recognized the glycosylated as well as the nonglycosylated forms of BAFF. The most efficient pair of Abs involved using the unconjugated form of a goat pAb to capture BAFF and the same biotinylated goat pAb to detect bound BAFF. This ELISA was not influenced by the presence of rheumatoid factor. CONCLUSIONS: This new ELISA helped provide insights into why serum concentrations of BAFF vary between studies for a given population of patients. It is a reliable tool for the management of the diseases in which BAFF is an indication of response to therapy.

[Expression, characterization of recombinant human soluble BAFF secreted from CHO cell].

B cell-activating factor of the TNF family (BAFF) is critical for B cell maturation and survival. Here, we constructed a stable CHO cell line, in which the expression level of soluble form of BAFF (sBAFF) was raised from 0.13 microg/ml to 0.55 microg/ml. Purified recombinant sBAFF from these CHO cells not only bound to its receptors but also co-stimulated the proliferation of human peripheral blood B lymphocyte in vitro. These results provided us with a useful basis for further studies about sBAFF-related research.

Expression and purification of soluble B lymphocyte stimulator from recombinant Escherichia coli.

In this work, the expression conditions of fusion protein thioredoxin (Trx)-soluble B lymphocyte stimulator (sBLyS) in shake flask and bioreactor from the recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) with a pET system encoding the fusion protein gene of Trx-sBLyS and the purification method of the sBLyS were optimized to effectively obtain the bioactive protein sBLyS with a high purity. A yield of about 250 mg Trx-sBLyS/g DWC (1686 mg Trx-sBLyS/L) and expression level of about 38.5% in soluble Trx-sBLyS were obtained in a 30 1 bioreactor after optimization of the fermentation conditions. After the completion of the optimized purification procedure in order of affinity chromatography, enzymatic cleavage with enterokinase and DEAE ion exchange chromatography, about 200 mg sBLyS per liter fermentation broth was obtained with a purity of about 95% and a yield of near 30%, respectively. Furthermore, the molecular weight (MW) and the isoelectric point (pI) of the purified sBLyS were determined by 2-D gel electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE analysis and estimated to be over 16 kDa and about pH 4.15, respectively. In addition, the bioactivities of the soluble Trx-sBLyS in fermentation broth and the purified sBLyS were tested by two kinds of analytical methods of bioactivity. The good fermentation yield and the satisfied, purified sBLyS product with high purity, yield and bioactivity demonstrated the sBLyS production procedure was promising in industry.

Construction and characterization of an enhanced GFP-tagged anti-BAFF scFv antibody.

Elevated levels of B-cell-activating factor of the TNF family (BAFF) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases in human. In this study, an anti-BAFF single-chain antibody fragment (scFv) was genetically linked to the C terminus of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to generate an EGFP/scFv fusion protein. The EGFP/scFv fusion protein had an apparent molecular weight of 52 kDa and was identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. After being purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography, the fusion protein exhibited similar fluorescence spectra with native EGFP. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and fluorescence-activated cell sorting showed the EGFP/scFv could bind to human soluble BAFF and BAFF positive cell lines in vitro. The binding of EGFP/scFv can also be visualized under laser scanning confocal microscopy. Furthermore, the results of the competition assay indicated its antigen binding specificity. Therefore, the fusion protein EGFP/scFv has several characteristics including high sensitivity, stability and convenience for manipulation, and can be a powerful tool for the study of the underlying pathology of BAFF relevant to autoimmune diseases.

Construction of bifunctional fusion proteins consisting of duck BAFF and EGFP.

We constructed fusion proteins consisting of fluorescence-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and soluble domain of duck B-cell-activating factor of the TNF family (dsBAFF). The soluble EGFP/dsBAFF was efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli BL 21 (DE3) and was purified in milligram amounts using metal chellate affinity chromatography. The fusion protein exhibited similar fluorescence spectra with free EGFP and promoted the survival of duck bursal B cells in vitro as well as dsBAFF. EGFP/dsBAFF has shown specific binding to duck BAFF receptors positive-cells and the stained cells could be analyzed with flow cytometry. Thus, the fusion protein represents a readily obtainable source of biologically active dsBAFF that may prove useful in further studies on duck BAFF and its receptors.

Expression, purification, and characterization of recombinant human soluble BAFF secreted from the yeast Pichia pastoris.

The B lymphocyte stimulator (BAFF) is a novel member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family which is important in B lymphocyte maturation and survival. Herein, the cDNA coding for the extracellular domain of the BAFF (hsBAFF) has been cloned into the secreting expression organism Pichia pastoris. SDS-PAGE and Western blotting assays of culture broth from a methanol-induced expression strain demonstrated that recombinant hsBAFF, a 20.2 kDa glycosylated protein, was secreted into the culture medium. The recombinant protein was purified to greater than 95% using DEAE-Sepharose ion exchange and Superdex 75 size-exclusion chromatography steps. Finally, 102 mg of the protein was obtained in high purity from 1 L of the supernatant and its identity to hsBAFF was confirmed by NH(2)-terminal amino acid sequence analysis Bioactivity of the recombinant hsBAFF was confirmed by the ability of the protein to stimulate human B lymphocyte proliferation in vitro. Our results suggest that the P. pastoris expression system can be used to produce large quantities of fully functional hsBAFF for both research and industrial purpose.

Expression and purification of a soluble B lymphocyte stimulator mutant modified with the T-helper cell epitope.

The DNA encoding soluble B lymphocyte stimulator (134-285 amino acids, sBLyS) mutant with residues 217-224 replaced by two glycines (named msBLyS) was constructed. The sequence encoding a foreign immunodominant T-helper epitope from ovalbumin (OVA) was then coupled to the 5'-end of msBLyS cDNA. After being sequenced, the recombinant DNA was ligated into the prokaryotic expression vector pQE-80L. The recombinant protein was produced in E. coli DH5alpha after induction with IPTG with the yield of more than 40% of total bacterial protein. The recombinant protein was purified with Ni-NTA chromatography and Sepharcryl S200 chromatography to a purity of more than 98%. The BALB/c mice, immunized with the recombinant protein, produced anti-BLyS antibodies at a high level, which indicated that the recombinant BLyS mutant modified with T-helper epitope elicited polyclonal antibodies with cross-reactivity with BLyS in vivo. This recombinant protein may therefore be used as immune inhibitor of BLyS for treating BLyS -associated autoimmune diseases.