One-step chromatographic purification of Helicobacter pylori neutrophil-activating protein expressed in Bacillus subtilis

PLoS One. 2013;8(4):e60786. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060786. Epub 2013 Apr 8.

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori neutrophil-activating protein (HP-NAP), a major virulence factor of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), is capable of activating human neutrophils to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and secrete inammatory mediators. HP-NAP is a vaccine candidate, a possible drug target, and a potential in vitro diagnostic marker for H. pylori infection. HP-NAP has also been shown to be a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of allergic asthma and bladder cancer. Hence, an efficient way to obtain pure HP-NAP needs to be developed. In this study, one-step anion-exchange chromatography in negative mode was applied to purify the recombinant HP-NAP expressed in Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis). This purification technique was based on the binding of host cell proteins and/or impurities other than HP-NAP to DEAE Sephadex resins. At pH 8.0, almost no other proteins except HP-NAP passed through the DEAE Sephadex column. More than 60% of the total HP-NAP with purity higher than 91% was recovered in the flow-through fraction from this single-step DEAE Sephadex chromatography. The purified recombinant HP-NAP was further demonstrated to be a multimeric protein with a secondary structure of α-helix and capable of activating human neutrophils to stimulate ROS production. Thus, this one-step negative chromatography using DEAE Sephadex resin can efficiently yield functional HP-NAP from B. subtilis in its native form with high purity. HP-NAP purified by this method could be further utilized for the development of new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for H. pylori infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacillus subtilis / genetics*
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Bacterial Proteins / isolation & purification*
  • Bacterial Proteins / pharmacology
  • Chromatography, Ion Exchange / methods*
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Neutrophils / drug effects
  • Neutrophils / metabolism
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Recombinant Proteins / pharmacology

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • neutrophil-activating protein A, Helicobacter pylori

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Research Program for Genomic Medicine, National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC95-3112-B-007-003 and NSC96-3112-B-007-003) and partially supported by grants from the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC98-2311-B-007-006-MY3 and NSC101-2311-B-007-007) and the Joint Research Program of National Tsing Hua University and Mackay Memorial Hospital (100N7727E1 and 101N2727E1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.