Full-length versus truncated α-factor secretory signal sequences for expression of recombinant human insulin precursor in yeast Pichia pastoris: a comparison

Abstract Background Human insulin was the first FDA-approved biopharmaceutical drug produced through recombinant DNA technology. The previous studies successfully expressed recombinant human insulin precursors (HIP) in Pichia pastoris truncated and full-length α-factor recombinant clones. The mattin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nuruliawaty Utami, Dini Nurdiani, Hariyatun Hariyatun, Eko Wahyu Putro, Fadillah Putri Patria, Wien Kusharyoto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-05-01
Series:Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s43141-023-00521-w
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Summary:Abstract Background Human insulin was the first FDA-approved biopharmaceutical drug produced through recombinant DNA technology. The previous studies successfully expressed recombinant human insulin precursors (HIP) in Pichia pastoris truncated and full-length α-factor recombinant clones. The matting α-factor (Matα), a signal secretion, direct the HIP protein into the culture media. This study aimed to compare the HIP expression from full-length and truncated α-factor secretory signals clones that grown in two types of media, buffered methanol complex medium (BMMY) and methanol basal salt medium (BSMM). Results ImageJ analysis of the HIP’s SDS-PAGE shows that the average HIP expression level of the recombinant P. pastoris truncated α-factor clone (CL4) was significantly higher compared to the full-length (HF7) when expressed in both media. Western blot analysis showed that the expressed protein was the HIP. The α-factor protein structure was predicted using the AlphaFold and visualized using UCSF ChimeraX to confirm the secretion ability for both clones. Conclusions CL4 clone, which utilized a truncated α-factor in the P. pastoris HIP expression cassette, significantly expressed HIP 8.97 times (in BMMY) and 1.17 times (in BSMM) higher than HF7 clone, which used a full-length α-factor secretory signal. This research confirmed that deletion of some regions of the secretory signal sequence significantly improved the efficiency of HIP protein expression in P. pastoris.
ISSN:2090-5920