Recombinant purified buffalo leukemia inhibitory factor plays an inhibitory role in cell growth

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 13;13(6):e0198523. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198523. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) is a polyfunctional cytokine, involved in numerous regulatory effects in vivo and in vitro, varying from cell proliferation to differentiation, and has therapeutic potential for treating various diseases. In the current study, a COS-1 cell line overexpressing recombinant Buffalo LIF (rBuLIF) was established. The rBuLIF was purified to homogeneity from the total cell lysate of COS-1 cells using a two-step affinity chromatography. The purified LIF was confirmed by western blot and mass spectrometer (MS/MS). Particularly, high-resolution MS has identified the rBuLIF with 73% of sequence coverage with highest confidence parameters and with the search engine score of 4580. We determined the molecular weight of rBuLIF protein to be 58.99 kDa and 48.9 kDa with and without glycosylation, respectively. Moreover, the purified rBuLIF was verified to be functionally active by measuring the growth inhibition of M1 myeloid leukemia cells, revealing a maximum inhibition at 72 hours and half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 0.0555 ng/ml, corresponding to a specific activity of >1.6×10(7) units/mg. Next, we evaluated the effect of rBuLIF on buffalo mammary epithelial cell lines for its role in involution and also identified the IC50 value for BuMEC migrating cells to be 77.8 ng/ml. Additionally, the treatment of MECs (BuMEC and EpH4) displayed significant (P < 0.05) reduction in growth progression, as confirmed by qRT-PCR analysis, suggesting its strong involvement in the involution of the mammary gland in vivo. Thus, we conclude that the glycosylated rBuLIF, purified from COS-1 cells was found to be functionally active as its natural counterpart.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Buffaloes / metabolism
  • COS Cells
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Movement / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects*
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Female
  • Glycosylation
  • Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / genetics
  • Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / metabolism
  • Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / pharmacology*
  • Mammary Glands, Animal / cytology
  • Mammary Glands, Animal / metabolism
  • Recombinant Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / pharmacology

Substances

  • Leukemia Inhibitory Factor
  • Recombinant Proteins

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) (NASF/GTR-5008-2015-16), Government of India. We would also like to thank the Director of National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), India for providing the necessary facilities to carry out research work.