Polyclonal Antibody Against the Active Recombinant Helicobacter pylori Urease Expressed in Escherichia coli

Helicobacter pylori is the etiologic agent of human gastritis and peptic ulceration and produces urease as the major protein component on its surface. H. pylori urease is known to serve as a major virulence factor and in a potent immunogen. In order to express the recombinant urease at a higher level, a DNA fragment containing the minimal H. pylori urease gene cluster was subcloned into a high copy-number vector. The recombinant H. pylori urease expressed in an E. coli strain that was grown in a rich medium supplemented with added nickel was purified to near homogeneity by using DEAE-Sepharose, Superdex HR200, and Mono-Q (FPLC) columns and the purified enzyme possessed the specific activity of 1255 U/mg. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the purified recombinant H. pylori urease were shown to be very specific when subjected to Western blot analysis, in which crude extracts from the H. pylori ATCC strain and the recombinant E. coli strains expressing various bacterial ureases were exnmined for cross-reactivity.