Functional expression in Aspergillus oryzae of p15, a protein with potent neurite-inducing activity in PC12 cells

Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2002 Mar;66(3):674-8. doi: 10.1271/bbb.66.674.

Abstract

We previously reported that a fungal protein, p15, induces neurite outgrowth and differentiation of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells through the activation of the Ca2+ signaling pathway. We report here the secretory production of p15 in Aspergillus oryzae. Analysis of culture supernatant of A. oryzae transformed with the gene encoding the p15 precursor tagged with a hemagglutinin (HA) epitope demonstrated that the transformant secreted a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 17.5 kDa, which is a little larger than the expected size of mature p15-HA. By heat denaturation and ion exchange chromatography, p15-HA was easily purified from the culture supernatant with sufficient abundance. Although purified p15-HA was less active than the native p15 obtained from the culture broth of a producing fungal strain, it had neurite-inducing activity in PC12 cells in a dose-dependent manner, providing a system to study the action mechanism of p15.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / biosynthesis*
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / pharmacology*
  • Aspergillus oryzae / metabolism*
  • Base Sequence
  • Chromatography, Ion Exchange
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Epitopes / immunology
  • Fungal Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Fungal Proteins / genetics*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / genetics
  • Hemagglutinins / chemistry
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Neurites / physiology*
  • Neurites / ultrastructure
  • PC12 Cells
  • Plasmids / genetics
  • Rats

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Epitopes
  • Fungal Proteins
  • Hemagglutinins