Recombinant light chains of botulinum neurotoxins and light chain fusion proteins for use in research and clinical therapy
申请人:——
公开号:US20020168727A1
公开(公告)日:2002-11-14
Botulinum neurotoxins, the most potent of all toxins, induce lethal neuromuscular paralysis by inhibiting exocytosis at the neuromuscular junction. The light chains (LC) of these dichain neurotoxins are a new class of zinc-endopeptidases that specifically cleave the synaptosomal proteins, SNAP-25, VAMP, or syntaxin at discrete sites. The present invention relates to the construction, expression, purification, and use of synthetic or recombinant botulinum neutoroxin genes. For example, a synthetic gene for the LC of the botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT/A) was constructed and overexpressed in
Escherichia coli.
The gene product was purified from inclusion bodies. The methods of the invention can provide 1.1 g of the LC per liter of culture. The LC product was stable in solution at 4° C. for at least 6 months. This rBoNT/A LC was proteolytically active, specifically cleaving the Glu-Arg bond in a 17-residue synthetic peptide of SNAP-25, the reported cleavage site of BoNT/A. Its calculated catalytic efficiency k
cat
/K
m
was higher than that reported for the native BoNT/A dichain. Treating the rBoNT/A LC with mercuric compounds completely abolished its activity, most probably by modifying the cysteine-164 residue located in the vicinity of the active site. About 70% activity of the LC was restored by adding Zn
2+
to a Zn
2+
-free, apo-LC preparation. The LC was nontoxic to mice and failed to elicit neutralizing epitope(s) when the animals were vaccinated with this protein. In addition, injecting rBoNT/A LC into sea urchin eggs inhibited exocytosis-dependent plasma membrane resealing.
肉毒杆菌神经毒素是所有毒素中毒性最强的一种,它通过抑制神经肌肉接头处的外泌作用诱发致命的神经肌肉麻痹。这些二链神经毒素的轻链(LC)是一类新型锌内肽酶,可在离散位点特异性地裂解突触体蛋白、SNAP-25、VAMP 或 syntaxin。本发明涉及合成或重组肉毒杆菌神经毒素基因的构建、表达、纯化和使用。例如,构建了肉毒杆菌神经毒素血清型 A(BoNT/A)LC 的合成基因,并在
大肠杆菌中过表达。
从包涵体中纯化出基因产物。本发明的方法每升培养物可提供 1.1 克 LC。LC 产物在 4° C 的溶液中至少可稳定 6 个月。这种 rBoNT/A LC 具有蛋白水解活性,能特异性地裂解 SNAP-25 的 17 个残基合成肽中的 Glu-Arg 键,而 SNAP-25 正是已报道的 BoNT/A 的裂解位点。其计算催化效率 k
cat
/K
m
高于报道的原生 BoNT/A 二链的催化效率。用汞化合物处理 rBoNT/A LC 会完全丧失其活性,很可能是通过改变位于活性位点附近的半胱氨酸-164 残基。加入 Zn
2+
到 Zn
2+
-不含 Zn 2+ 的 apo-LC 制剂中添加 Zn 2+ 后,LC 的活性恢复了约 70%。这种 LC 对小鼠无毒,用这种蛋白质给动物接种疫苗时也不能诱导出中和表位。此外,将 rBoNT/A LC 注入海胆卵中可抑制依赖外泌的质膜再封闭。