Research Area:	Protein Science and Structural Biology
Technology Exchange:	Protein interaction
Keywords:	Protein expression, Crystallization and High throughput
Web Links:	STRUBI website

The OPPF (www.oppf.ox.ac.uk) research activity is focused on the development and application of high throughput methods for molecular biology, protein purification and protein crystallization. The overall aim is to facilitate the structural solution of challenging proteins of biomedical importance using X-ray crystallography. The OPPF team set up the high throughput crystallization facility of the Structural Biology Division and are responsible for its on-going management. Using laboratory automation, we have established a protein production pipeline capable of processing up to a thousand input sequences/year. We are currently focussing on the use of transient transfection in mammalian cells for production of cell surface and secreted glycoproteins. The OPPF offers bacterial expression screening and crystallization services to external users and undertakes collaborative projects involving the production of proteins for structural and functional studies.

In January 2010, the OPPF re-located to the new Research Complex at Harwell, adjacent to the Diamond Light Source, to establish the OPPF-UK. Funded by the MRC and BBSRC, the OPPF-UK will be a National Resource Centre for protein production and crystallization.

Name	Department	Institution	Country
Nigel Saunders		Oxford University	UK
Brian Sutton		King's College, London	UK

Holdom MD, Davies AM, Nettleship JE, Bagby SC, Dhaliwal B, Girardi E, Hunt J, Gould HJ, Beavil AJ, McDonnell JM, Owens RJ, Sutton BJ et al. 2011. Conformational changes in IgE contribute to its uniquely slow dissociation rate from receptor FcɛRI. Nat Struct Mol Biol, 18 (5), pp. 571-576. Read abstract | Read more

Among antibody classes, IgE has a uniquely slow dissociation rate from, and high affinity for, its cell surface receptor FcɛRI. We show the structural basis for these key determinants of the ability of IgE to mediate allergic hypersensitivity through the 3.4-Å-resolution crystal structure of human IgE-Fc (consisting of the Cɛ2, Cɛ3 and Cɛ4 domains) bound to the extracellular domains of the FcɛRI α chain. Comparison with the structure of free IgE-Fc (reported here at a resolution of 1.9 Å) shows that the antibody, which has a compact, bent structure before receptor engagement, becomes even more acutely bent in the complex. Thermodynamic analysis indicates that the interaction is entropically driven, which explains how the noncontacting Cɛ2 domains, in place of the flexible hinge region of IgG antibodies, contribute together with the conformational changes to the unique binding properties of IgE. Hide abstract

Sainsbury S, Bird L, Rao V, Shepherd SM, Stuart DI, Hunter WN, Owens RJ, Ren J. 2011. Crystal structures of penicillin-binding protein 3 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa: comparison of native and antibiotic-bound forms. J Mol Biol, 405 (1), pp. 173-184. Read abstract | Read more

We report the first crystal structures of a penicillin-binding protein (PBP), PBP3, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in native form and covalently linked to two important β-lactam antibiotics, carbenicillin and ceftazidime. Overall, the structures of apo and acyl complexes are very similar; however, variations in the orientation of the amino-terminal membrane-proximal domain relative to that of the carboxy-terminal transpeptidase domain indicate interdomain flexibility. Binding of either carbenicillin or ceftazidime to purified PBP3 increases the thermostability of the enzyme significantly and is associated with local conformational changes, which lead to a narrowing of the substrate-binding cleft. The orientations of the two β-lactams in the active site and the key interactions formed between the ligands and PBP3 are similar despite differences in the two drugs, indicating a degree of flexibility in the binding site. The conserved binding mode of β-lactam-based inhibitors appears to extend to other PBPs, as suggested by a comparison of the PBP3/ceftazidime complex and the Escherichia coli PBP1b/ceftoxamine complex. Since P. aeruginosa is an important human pathogen, the structural data reveal the mode of action of the frontline antibiotic ceftazidime at the molecular level. Improved drugs to combat infections by P. aeruginosa and related Gram-negative bacteria are sought and our study provides templates to assist that process and allows us to discuss new ways of inhibiting PBPs. Hide abstract

Nettleship JE, Assenberg R, Diprose JM, Rahman-Huq N, Owens RJ. 2010. Recent advances in the production of proteins in insect and mammalian cells for structural biology. J Struct Biol, 172 (1), pp. 55-65. Read abstract | Read more

The production of proteins in sufficient quantity and of appropriate quality is an essential pre-requisite for structural studies. Escherichia coli remains the dominant expression system in structural biology with nearly 90% of the structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) derived from proteins produced in this bacterial host. However, many mammalian and eukaryotic viral proteins require post-translation modification for proper folding and/or are part of large multimeric complexes. Therefore expression in higher eukaryotic cell lines from both invertebrate and vertebrate is required to produce these proteins. Although these systems are generally more time-consuming and expensive to use than bacteria, there have been improvements in technology that have streamlined the processes involved. For example, the use of multi-host vectors, i.e., containing promoters for not only E. coli but also mammalian and baculovirus expression in insect cells, enables target genes to be evaluated in both bacterial and higher eukaryotic hosts from a single vector. Culturing cells in micro-plate format allows screening of large numbers of vectors in parallel and is amenable to automation. The development of large-scale transient expression in mammalian cells offers a way of rapidly producing proteins with relatively high throughput. Strategies for selenomethionine-labelling (important for obtaining phase information in crystallography) and controlling glycosylation (important for reducing the chemical heterogeneity of glycoproteins) have also been reported for higher eukaryotic cell expression systems. Hide abstract

Sainsbury S, Lane LA, Ren J, Gilbert RJ, Saunders NJ, Robinson CV, Stuart DI, Owens RJ. 2009. The structure of CrgA from Neisseria meningitidis reveals a new octameric assembly state for LysR transcriptional regulators. Nucleic Acids Res, 37 (14), pp. 4545-4558. Read abstract | Read more

LysR-type transcriptional regulators (LTTRs) form the largest family of bacterial regulators acting as both auto-repressors and activators of target promoters, controlling operons involved in a wide variety of cellular processes. The LTTR, CrgA, from the human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, is upregulated during bacterial-host cell contact. Here, we report the crystal structures of both regulatory domain and full-length CrgA, the first of a novel subclass of LTTRs that form octameric rings. Non-denaturing mass spectrometry analysis and analytical ultracentrifugation established that the octameric form of CrgA is the predominant species in solution in both the presence and absence of an oligonucleotide encompassing the CrgA-binding sequence. Furthermore, analysis of the isolated CrgA-DNA complex by mass spectrometry showed stabilization of a double octamer species upon DNA binding. Based on the observed structure and the mass spectrometry findings, a model is proposed in which a hexadecameric array of two CrgA oligomers binds to its DNA target site. Hide abstract

Nettleship JE, Rahman-Huq N, Owens RJ. 2009. The production of glycoproteins by transient expression in Mammalian cells. Methods Mol Biol, 498 pp. 245-263. Read abstract | Read more

In this chapter, protocols for the growth and transfection of Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK) 293T cells for small scale expression screening and large scale protein production are described. Transient expression in mammalian cells offers a method of rapidly producing glycoproteins with a relatively high throughput. HEK 293T cells, in particular, can be transfected with high efficiency (> 50% cell expression) and are amenable to culture at multi-litre scale. Growing cells in micro-plate format allows screening of large numbers of vectors in parallel to prioritise those amenable to scale-up and purification for subsequent structural or functional studies. The glycoform of the expressed protein can be modified by treating cell cultures with kifunensine which inhibits glycan processing during protein synthesis. This results in the production of a chemically homogeneous glycoprotein with short mannose-rich sugar chains attached to the protein backbone. If required, these can be readily removed by endoglycosidase treatment. Hide abstract

Possee RD, Hitchman RB, Richards KS, Mann SG, Siaterli E, Nixon CP, Irving H, Assenberg R, Alderton D, Owens RJ, King LA. 2008. Generation of baculovirus vectors for the high-throughput production of proteins in insect cells. Biotechnol Bioeng, 101 (6), pp. 1115-1122. Read abstract | Read more

The baculovirus expression system is one of the most popular methods used for the production of recombinant proteins but has several complex steps which have proved inherently difficult to adapt to a multi-parallel process. We have developed a bacmid vector that does not require any form of selection pressure to separate recombinant virus from non-recombinant parental virus. The method relies on homologous recombination in insect cells between a transfer vector containing a gene to be expressed and a replication-deficient bacmid. The target gene replaces a bacterial replicon at the polyhedrin loci, simultaneously restoring a virus gene essential for replication. Therefore, only recombinant virus can replicate facilitating the rapid production of multiple recombinant viruses on automated platforms in a one-step procedure. Using this vector allowed us to automate the generation of multiple recombinant viruses with a robotic liquid handler and then rapidly screen infected insect cell supernatant for the presence of secreted proteins. Hide abstract

Nettleship JE, Ren J, Rahman N, Berrow NS, Hatherley D, Barclay AN, Owens RJ. 2008. A pipeline for the production of antibody fragments for structural studies using transient expression in HEK 293T cells. Protein Expr Purif, 62 (1), pp. 83-89. Read abstract | Read more

We describe a pipeline for the rapid production of recombinant Fabs derived from mouse monoclonal antibodies suitable for use in structural studies. The pipeline is exemplified by the production of three Fabs derived from the monoclonal antibodies OX108 (anti-CD200 receptor), OX117 and OX119 (anti-SIRPgamma). Heavy and light chain variable domains were inserted into separate expression vectors containing resident constant regions using In-Fusion PCR cloning. Following transient co-expression in HEK 293T cells, secreted Fab fragments were purified by metal chelate chromatography and gel filtration using an automated procedure with yields of up to 4mg/L of cell culture. Following crystallization trials, diffracting crystals were obtained for the recombinant Fabs of OX108 and OX117, and their structures solved to 2.3A and 2.4A, respectively. Hide abstract

Ren J, Sainsbury S, Combs SE, Capper RG, Jordan PW, Berrow NS, Stammers DK, Saunders NJ, Owens RJ. 2007. The structure and transcriptional analysis of a global regulator from Neisseria meningitidis. J Biol Chem, 282 (19), pp. 14655-14664. Read abstract | Read more

Neisseria meningitidis, a causative agent of bacterial meningitis, has a relatively small repertoire of transcription factors, including NMB0573 (annotated AsnC), a member of the Lrp-AsnC family of regulators that are widely expressed in both Bacteria and Archaea. In the present study we show that NMB0573 binds to l-leucine and l-methionine and have solved the structure of the protein with and without bound amino acids. This has shown, for the first time that amino acid binding does not induce significant conformational changes in the structure of an AsnC/Lrp regulator although it does appear to stabilize the octameric assembly of the protein. Transcriptional profiling of wild-type and NMB0573 knock-out strains of N. meningitidis has shown that NMB0573 is associated with an adaptive response to nutrient poor conditions reflected in a reduction in major surface protein expression. On the basis of its structure and the transcriptional response, we propose that NMB0573 is a global regulator in Neisseria controlling responses to nutrient availability through indicators of general amino acid abundance: leucine and methionine. Hide abstract

Chang VT, Crispin M, Aricescu AR, Harvey DJ, Nettleship JE, Fennelly JA, Yu C, Boles KS, Evans EJ, Stuart DI, Dwek RA, Jones EY, Owens RJ, Davis SJ et al. 2007. Glycoprotein structural genomics: solving the glycosylation problem. Structure, 15 (3), pp. 267-273. Read abstract | Read more

Glycoproteins present special problems for structural genomic analysis because they often require glycosylation in order to fold correctly, whereas their chemical and conformational heterogeneity generally inhibits crystallization. We show that the "glycosylation problem" can be solved by expressing glycoproteins transiently in mammalian cells in the presence of the N-glycosylation processing inhibitors, kifunensine or swainsonine. This allows the correct folding of the glycoproteins, but leaves them sensitive to enzymes, such as endoglycosidase H, that reduce the N-glycans to single residues, enhancing crystallization. Since the scalability of transient mammalian expression is now comparable to that of bacterial systems, this approach should relieve one of the major bottlenecks in structural genomic analysis. Hide abstract

Berrow NS, Alderton D, Sainsbury S, Nettleship J, Assenberg R, Rahman N, Stuart DI, Owens RJ. 2007. A versatile ligation-independent cloning method suitable for high-throughput expression screening applications. Nucleic Acids Res, 35 (6), pp. e45. Read abstract | Read more

This article describes the construction of a set of versatile expression vectors based on the In-Fusion cloning enzyme and their use for high-throughput cloning and expression screening. Modifications to commonly used vectors rendering them compatible with In-Fusion has produced a ligation-independent cloning system that is (1) insert sequence independent (2) capable of cloning large PCR fragments (3) efficient over a wide (20-fold) insert concentration range and (4) applicable to expression in multiple hosts. The system enables the precise engineering of (His(6)-) tagged constructs with no undesirable vector or restriction-site-derived amino acids added to the expressed protein. The use of a multiple host-enabled vector allows rapid screening in both E. coli and eukaryotic hosts (HEK293T cells and insect cell hosts, e.g. Sf9 cells). These high-throughput screening activities have prompted the development and validation of automated protocols for transfection of mammalian cells and Ni-NTA protein purification. Hide abstract