• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.365-370
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• 2001

We constructed a comparative expression system in order to produce recombinant human ferritin homo- and heteropolymers in Escherichia coli. Human ferritin H-(hfH) and L-chain (hfL) genes were expressed without amino acid changes under the control of a tac promoter. Ferritin heteropolymers of varying subunit composition were also produced by combining two different expression systems, a bicistronic expression system and a coplasmid expression system. As a result, recombinant H-chain ferritin and ferritin heteropolymers were catalytically active in forming iron core in vivo. In particular, the ferritin heteropolymer that is composed of 7% H-subunit and 93% L-subunit was capable of forming an iron core of the protein, while the L-chain ferritin homopolymer was inactive in vivo. This result indicates that the two H-subunits (i.e., 7% H-subunit content) are important to keep ferritin active in the cells. In addition, human ferritins were identified as the major iron binding proteins in the transformed cells. Also, the amount of iron bound to the recombinant ferritins was proportional to the H-subunit content in ferritin heteropolymers in vivo.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.352-357
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• 2004

Human ferritin H- and L-chain genes (hfH and hfL) were cloned into the yeast shuttle vector YEp352 containing the GAL1 (galactokinase) and GAL10 (epimerase) divergent promoters and the vectors constructed were used to transform Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2805. SDS-PAGE displayed expression of the introduced hfH and hfL in both recombinant strains of Y1H10L and Y1L10H. The ferritin subunits, that represented ca. $22\%$ and $15\%$ of the soluble proteins in Y1H10L and Y1L10H, were spontaneously assembled into active ferritin heteropolymers. The H subunit content of the purified recombinant human ferritin heteropolymers was proven to reflect the relative expression yield of the subunits. When the cells of 2d culture were incubated with 14.3 mM Fe(2), the cellular iron concentration of Y1H10L and Y1L10H was 1.7 and 2.0 times, respectively, that of the control strain. It is assumed that increase in the iron uptake of the recombinant yeasts is closely related to ferritin expression and H subunit content.