Production and Folding of Proteins in the Periplasm of Escherichia Coli
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Rageia Elfageih Production and folding of proteins in the periplasm of Escherichia coli Production and folding of proteins in the periplasm of in and folding of proteins Production Rageia Elfageih Escherichia coli Escherichia ISBN 978-91-7911-464-0 Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics Doctoral Thesis in Biochemistry at Stockholm University, Sweden 2021 Production and folding of proteins in the periplasm of Escherichia coli Rageia Elfageih Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry at Stockholm University to be publicly defended on Friday 14 May 2021 at 10.00 online via Zoom, public link is available at the department website. Abstract The Gram-negative bacterium E. coli is the most widely used host for the production of recombinant proteins. Disulfide bond containing recombinant proteins are usually produced in the periplasm of E. coli since in this compartment of the cell - in contrast to the cytoplasm - disulfide bond formation is promoted. To reach the periplasm recombinant proteins have to be translocated across the cytoplasmic membrane by the protein translocation machinery. To obtain sufficient yields of active recombinant protein in the periplasm is always challenging. The Ph.D. studies have aimed at developing strategies to enhance recombinant protein production yields in the periplasm, to better understand what happens when a protein is produced in the periplasm, and to shed light on the protein folding process in the periplasm. It has been shown that evolving translation initiation regions (TIRs) can enhance periplasmic protein production yields of a variety of proteins. Furthermore, it has been shown that the protein translocation machinery can adapt for enhanced periplasmic recombinant protein production. Force profile analysis was used to study co-translational folding of the periplasmic disulfide-bond containing protein alkaline phosphatase (PhoA) in the periplasm. It was shown that folding-induced forces can be transmitted via the nascent chain from the periplasm to the peptidyl transferase center in the ribosome and that PhoA appears to fold co- translationally via disulfide-stabilized folding intermediates. Finally, the S. pneumoniae neuraminidases NanA, NanB, and NanC were produced in E. coli and subsequently isolated. The activity of these neuraminidases was monitored at different pH as well as their oligomeric state was studied. Keywords: Escherichia coli, periplasm, recombinant protein production, disulfide bond containing proteins, translation initiation region, protein translocation machinery, co-translational folding, neuraminidases. Stockholm 2021 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-191529 ISBN 978-91-7911-464-0 ISBN 978-91-7911-465-7 Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm PRODUCTION AND FOLDING OF PROTEINS IN THE PERIPLASM OF ESCHERICHIA COLI Rageia Elfageih Production and folding of proteins in the periplasm of Escherichia coli Rageia Elfageih ©Rageia Elfageih, Stockholm University 2021 ISBN print 978-91-7911-464-0 ISBN PDF 978-91-7911-465-7 The cover image is created using BioRender.com. Images and image modifications in comprehensive summary by Rageia Elfageih Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2021 “Anything you can imagine you can create.” Oprah Winfrey Dedication To my parents and family For their endless love, support, and encouragements List of papers: I. Elfageih R, Karyolaimos A, Kemp G, de Gier J-W, von Heijne G, Kudva R (2020). Cotranslational folding of alkaline phospha- tase in the periplasm of Escherichia coli. Protein Science 29(10):2028–37. II. Karyolaimos A*, Dolata KM*, Antelo-Varela M*, Mestre Borras A, Elfageih R, Sievers S, Becher D, Riedel K and de Gier J-W (2020). Escherichia coli can adapt its protein translocation ma- chinery for enhanced periplasmic recombinant protein produc- tion. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 7: 465. *Shared first author III. MirZadeh K*, Shilling PJ*, Elfageih R, Cumming AJ, Cui HL, Rennig M, Nørholm MHH, Daley DO (2020). Increased produc- tion of periplasmic proteins in Escherichia coli by directed evo- lution of the translation initiation region. Microbial Cell Factories 19(1):85. *Shared first author IV. Elfageih R, de Gier J-W, Daniels R (2021). CharacteriZation of the Streptococcus pneumoniae neuraminidases NanA, NanB, and NanC. Manuscript in preparation Contents Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1. Gram-negative bacteria .......................................................................... 3 1.1. The cytoplasm ....................................................................................... 3 1.2. The inner membrane .............................................................................. 4 1.3. The periplasm ......................................................................................... 4 1.4. The peptidoglycan layer ......................................................................... 4 1.5. The outer membrane .............................................................................. 5 2. Gram-positive bacteria ........................................................................... 5 3. Biogenesis of cell envelope proteins ....................................................... 5 3.1. The ribosome and the translation initiation region in mRNA ............. 6 3.1.1. Initiation of translation ..................................................... 7 3.1.2. Elongation of translation ................................................... 8 3.1.3. Termination of translation and ribosomal recycling ............. 9 4. Biogenesis of bacterial cell envelope proteins .................................... 10 4.1. Protein targeting .......................................................................... 11 4.2. Protein translocation ..................................................................... 12 4.2.1. Regulation of secA expression ......................................... 13 4.3. Formation of disulfide bonds in the periplasm ................................ 13 5. Neuraminidases ..................................................................................... 16 5.1. Streptococcus pneumoniae and influenza virus neuraminidases ....... 16 5.1.2. Catalytic site characteristics, substrate specificity and product formation .................................................................. 17 6. Recombinant protein production in E. coli ........................................ 19 6.1. Production strains and expression vectors ...................................... 20 6.1.1. The T7 RNA polymerase/promoter .................................. 21 6.1.2. The tac promoter ............................................................ 22 6.1.3. The rhaBAD promoter .................................................... 23 6.1.4. The araBAD promoter .................................................... 24 7. Summaries of chapters I-IV ............................................................. 25 8. Future perspectives ........................................................................... 28 Sammanfattning på svenska ....................................................................... 30 32 ..................................................... ﺺﺨﻠﻤﻟا( ﺔﻐﻠﻟﺎﺑ ﺔﯿﺑﺮﻌﻟا ) Summary in Arabic Acknowledgments ....................................................................................... 33 References .................................................................................................... 35 Introduction Bacteria are single-cell based organisms and they can have different shapes (they can be e.g., spherical or rod-shaped) (1). On average, bacteria are 1 – 2 µm in diameter/length, and their mass (dry weight) can range from 1 – 10 pg (1). The bacterial chromosome is localized in the central region of the cell and bacteria lack a membrane-based nucleus; the region within the bacterial cell containing its genetic information is often referred to as the nucleoid (2). In addition, bacteria can also contain plasmids, which are independently repli- cating pieces of DNA that contain additional genetic information (3). There are Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (4)(Figure 1). Gram- negative bacteria have two membranes, i.e., the inner or cytoplasmic mem- brane and the outer membrane. Between the two membranes is the periplasm, which contains a thin layer of peptidoglycan (5). Figure 1. Schematic representation of the cell envelope of a Gram-negative bacterium and the one of a Gram-positive bacterium. a) The basic setup (from the outside to the inside) of the Gram-negative bacterial cell envelope consists of the outer membrane, the periplasm and the inner/cytoplasmic membrane. In the periplasm, there is a thin layer of peptidoglycan that is anchored to the outer membrane via the lipoprotein Lpp (for the sake of simplicity not specified in the cartoon). The outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in the outer leaflet and lipids in the inner leaflet. The inner/cytoplasmic membrane consists of a lipid bilayer. Both membrane systems contain (integral) membrane proteins, including lipoproteins. b) In Gram- positive bacteria, the basic setup of the cell envelope (from the outside to the inside) consists of a thick layer of peptidoglycan that contains an anionic polymer called teichoic acid and sur- face proteins are attached to it, and the cytoplasmic membrane. The cytoplasmic membrane 1 consists