Ultra-high-throughput screening of an in vitro-synthesized horseradish peroxidase displayed on microbeads using cell sorter

PLoS One. 2015 May 20;10(5):e0127479. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127479. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

The C1a isoenzyme of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is an industrially important heme-containing enzyme that utilizes hydrogen peroxide to oxidize a wide variety of inorganic and organic compounds for practical applications, including synthesis of fine chemicals, medical diagnostics, and bioremediation. To develop a ultra-high-throughput screening system for HRP, we successfully produced active HRP in an Escherichia coli cell-free protein synthesis system, by adding disulfide bond isomerase DsbC and optimizing the concentrations of hemin and calcium ions and the temperature. The biosynthesized HRP was fused with a single-chain Cro (scCro) DNA-binding tag at its N-terminal and C-terminal sites. The addition of the scCro-tag at both ends increased the solubility of the protein. Next, HRP and its fusion proteins were successfully synthesized in a water droplet emulsion by using hexadecane as the oil phase and SunSoft No. 818SK as the surfactant. HRP fusion proteins were displayed on microbeads attached with double-stranded DNA (containing the scCro binding sequence) via scCro-DNA interactions. The activities of the immobilized HRP fusion proteins were detected with a tyramide-based fluorogenic assay using flow cytometry. Moreover, a model microbead library containing wild type hrp (WT) and inactive mutant (MUT) genes was screened using fluorescence-activated cell-sorting, thus efficiently enriching the WT gene from the 1:100 (WT:MUT) library. The technique described here could serve as a novel platform for the ultra-high-throughput discovery of more useful HRP mutants and other heme-containing peroxidases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amides / metabolism
  • Cell-Free System
  • Emulsions
  • Enzyme Assays
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Flow Cytometry / instrumentation*
  • Fluorescence
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / methods*
  • Horseradish Peroxidase / biosynthesis*
  • Horseradish Peroxidase / chemistry
  • Microspheres*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Oils / pharmacology
  • Protein Biosynthesis* / drug effects
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Surface-Active Agents / pharmacology

Substances

  • Amides
  • Emulsions
  • Oils
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Surface-Active Agents
  • Horseradish Peroxidase

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (No. 23360367) (to HN) and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (No. 26119707) (to HN) aimed at Synthetic Biology for the Comprehension of Biological Networks from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) of Japan (http://www.mext.go.jp/), as well as the Program for Leading Graduate Schools "Integrative Graduate Education and Research in Green Natural Sciences" (http://iger.bio.nagoya-u.ac.jp/), MEXT, Japan.