• BMB Reports
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.326-331
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• 2000

Acidic chitinases from the gizzards of a broiler were purified to homogeneity, using precipitation with $(NH_{4})_{2}SO_{4}$, ion exchanger chromatography, gel filtration, chromatofocusing and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The enzymes, GAC1 and GAC2, were purified 180- and 194- folds with a recovery of 4.9% and 2.7%, respectively. The molecular mass of GAC1 and GAC2 were 48.2 kDa and 57.8 kDa, respectively. Chromatofocusing resulted in a pI of 3.1 for both enzymes. The purified enzymes were endochitinases that were devoid of ${\beta}-N-acetylglucosaminidase$ and lysozyme activity. Kinetic studies using $[^3H]chitin$ indicate that GAC1 has a $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ of 1.97 mg/ml and 185 mg/mg protein/h, respectively. The GAC2 has a $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ of 0.42 mg/ml and 92.3 mg/mg protein/h, respectively at optimal pH and temperature (pH 5.0 and $60^{\circ}C$). When the pentamer and hexamer of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) were used as a substrate, the major product by GAC1 was the dimer of GlcNAc with a differential accumulation of the monomer and trimer, depending upon the substrate. However, the GAC2 produced the dimer and trimer in an equal quantity, regardless of the substrate used. The first 9 $NH_2-terminal$ amino acid residues of the purified gizzard chitinase GAC1 and GAC2 shared a 100% homology. The first 25 $NH_2-terminal$ amino acid residues of GAC1 also shared 55-60% homology with animal chitinases and some animal proteins, such as whey protein and oviduct-specific proteins. However, little homology was found with either microbial and plant chitinases, or egg white lysozyme.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.759-766
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• 2008

Among more than a hundred colonies of fungi isolated from soil samples, DY-52 has been screened as an extracellular chitin deacetylase (CDA) producer. The isolate was further identified as Mortierella sp., based on the morphological properties and the nucleotide sequence of its 18S rRNA gene. The fungus exhibited maximal growth in yeast peptone glucose (YPD) liquid medium containing 2% of glucose at pH 5.0 and $28^{\circ}C$ with 150 rpm. The CDA activity of DY-52 was maximal (20 U/mg) on the 3rd day of culture in the same medium. The CDA was inducible by addition of glucose and chitin. The enzyme contained two isoforms of molecular mass 50 kDa and 59 kDa. This enzyme showed a maximal activity at pH 5.5 and $60^{\circ}C$. In addition, it had a pH stability range of 4.5-8.0 and a temperature stability range of $4-40^{\circ}C$. The enzyme was enhanced in the presence of $Co^{2+}$ and $Ca^{2+}$. Among various substrates tested, WSCT-50 (water-soluble chitin, degree of deacetylation 50%), glycol chitin, and crab chitosan (DD 71-88%) were deacetylated. Moreover, the CDA can handle N-acetylglucosamine oligomers $(GlcNAc)_{2-7}$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권7호
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• pp.727-733
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• 2009

Heat shock protein 70 kDa (hsp70), a molecular chaperone involved in folding of nascent proteins, has been studied for its ability to activate innate and specific immunity. High purity hsp70 preparation is generally required for immunization experiments, because endotoxins and other immunologically active contaminants may affect immune responses independently of hsp70. We have developed a novel modification of E. coli-expression medium that enabled a simple two-step production and purification method for endotoxin-free recombinant hsp70. During Ni-NTA-based affinity purification of hsp70, a contaminating protein from host E. coli cells, L-glutamine-n-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (GFAT), was identified. By testing various compounds, supplementation of growth medium with a GFAT metabolite,N-acetylglucosamine, was found to reduce GFAT expression and increase the total hsp70 yield five times. The new protocol is based on column purification of His-tagged hsp70 protein produced by E. coli with the modified medium, followed by endotoxin removal by Triton X-114 extraction. This approach yielded hsp70 with high purity and minimal endotoxin contamination, making the final product acceptable for immunization experiments. In summary, a simple modification of growth medium allowed production of recombinant mouse hsp70 in high yield and purity, thus compatible with immunological studies. This protocol may be useful for production of other Histagged proteins expressed in E. coli.