结核分枝杆菌膜蛋白的异源表达与纯化研究进展

The heterologous expression and purification of membrane protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

膜蛋白是一类与生物膜相互作用、具有重要功能和独特结构的蛋白质。异源表达纯化一直是了解膜蛋白结构和功能的重要瓶颈。结核分枝杆菌作为典型的胞内致病菌,其膜蛋白的研究具有很好的代表性以及重要意义。目前用于表达膜蛋白的有大肠杆菌、酵母、哺乳动物细胞等表达系统,但结核菌膜蛋白的表达宿主还往往局限于大肠杆菌。异源表达需要综合考虑蛋白的来源、疏水性、跨膜区等特性。低温、加入共表达因子以及改变培养条件有助于结核菌膜蛋白的可溶性表达。另外,包涵体复性也是获得结核菌目的膜蛋白的重要途径。随着新的表达系统,新的促可溶表达策略,新的包涵体复性手段,新的纯化方法的应用,将有更多的膜蛋白异源表达纯化成功,为蛋白质功能研究奠定基础。

Membrane proteins fulfill a wide range of central functions in the cell, but their structure determination remains one of the great challenges in structural biology. The heterologous overexpression is a demanding task. Here, we provide an overview of recent advance to heterologous expression and purification of membrane protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, whose membrane proteins represent the majority of the new potential drug targets in this bacillus, which is ranked as the number1 cause of infectious disease mortality in the world. A detailed structural and functional understanding of the membranes protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis will be critical both for an understanding of the biology of infection and for the rational development of novel therapeutics. The procedures for functional expression followed by purification of membranes protein are reviewed here together with nonfunctional expression in inclusion bodies and subsequent refolding to produce functional proteins. The new expression systems, new approaches to soluble expression of recombinant proteins, new methods for membrane protein folding in vitro and new purification technology will provide a basis for choosing the best expression and purification protocol for a given membrane protein. The goal of this review is to aid researchers in the choice of a suitable expression system for their favourite proteins and make overproduction of functional membrane proteins becomes easier.