C1ORF123 is a human hypothetical protein found in open reading frame 123 of chromosome 1. The protein belongs to the DUF866 protein family comprising eukaryote-conserved proteins with unknown function. Recent proteomic and bioinformatic analyses identified the presence of C1ORF123 in brain, frontal cortex and synapses, as well as its involvement in endocrine function and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), indicating the importance of its biological role. In order to provide a better understanding of the biological function of the human C1ORF123 protein, the characterization and analysis of recombinant C1ORF123 (rC1ORF123), including overexpression and purification, verification by mass spectrometry and a Western blot using anti-C1ORF123 antibodies, crystallization and X-ray diffraction analysis of the protein crystals, are reported here. The rC1ORF123 protein was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method with a reservoir solution comprised of 20% PEG 3350, 0.2 M magnesium chloride hexahydrate, 0.1 M sodium citrate pH 6.5. The crystals diffracted to 1.9 Å resolution and belonged to an orthorhombic space group with unit-cell parameters a = 59.32, b = 65.35, c = 95.05 Å. The calculated Matthews coefficient (VM) value of 2.27 Å(3) Da(-1) suggests that there are two molecules per asymmetric unit, with an estimated solvent content of 45.7%.
Enzymatic methods have been used to cleave the C- or N-terminus polyhistidine tags from histidine tagged proteins following expanded bed purification using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). This study assesses the use of Factor Xa and a genetically engineered exopeptidase dipeptidyl aminopeptidase-1 (DAPase-1) for the removal of C-terminus and N-terminus polyhistidine tags, respectively. Model proteins consisting of maltose binding protein (MBP) having a C- or N-terminal polyhistidine tag were used. Digestion of the hexahistidine tag of MBP-His(6) by Factor Xa and HT15-MBP by DAPase-1 was successful. The time taken to complete the conversion of MBP-His(6) to MBP was 16 h, as judged by SDS-PAGE and Western blots against anti-His antibody. When the detagged protein was purified using subtractive IMAC, the yield was moderate at 71% although the overall recovery was high at 95%. Likewise, a yield of 79% and a recovery of 97% was obtained when digestion was performed with using "on-column" tag digestion. On-column tag digestion involves cleavage of histidine tag from polyhistidine tagged proteins that are still bound to the IMAC column. Digestion of an N-terminal polyhistidine tag from HT15-MBP (1 mg/mL) by the DAPase-I system was superior to the results obtained with Factor Xa with a higher yield and recovery of 99% and 95%, respectively. The digestion by DAPase-I system was faster and was complete at 5 h as opposed to 16 h for Factor Xa. The detagged MBP proteins were isolated from the digestion mixtures using a simple subtractive IMAC column procedure with the detagged protein appearing in the flowthrough and washing fractions while residual dipeptides and DAPase-I (which was engineered to exhibit a poly-His tail) were adsorbed to the column. FPLC analysis using a MonoS cation exchanger was performed to understand and monitor the progress and time course of DAPase-I digestion of HT15-MBP to MBP. Optimization of process variables such as temperature, protein concentration, and enzyme activity was developed for the DAPase-I digesting system on HT15-MBP to MBP. In short, this study proved that the use of either Factor Xa or DAPase-I for the digestion of polyhistidine tags is simple and efficient and can be carried out under mild reaction conditions.
Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) is used as a diagnostic reagent for the detection of hepatitis B virus infection. In this study, immobilized metal affinity-expanded bed adsorption chromatography (IMA-EBAC) was employed to purify N-terminally His-tagged HBcAg from unclarified bacterial homogenate. Streamline Chelating was used as the adsorbent and the batch adsorption experiment showed that the optimal binding pH of His-tagged HBcAg was 8.0 with a binding capacity of 1.8 mg per ml of adsorbent. The optimal elution condition for the elution of His-tagged HBcAg from the adsorbent was at pH 7 in the presence of 500 mM imidazole and 1.5 M NaCl. The IMA-EBAC has successfully recovered 56% of His-tagged HBcAg from the unclarified E. coli homogenate with a purification factor of 3.64. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that the antigenicity of the recovered His-tagged HBcAg was not affected throughout the IMA-EBAC purification process and electron microscopy revealed that the protein assembled into virus-like particles (VLP).