Kolb P, Vorreiter J, Habicht J, Bentrop D, Wallich R, Nassal M. Soluble cysteine-rich tick saliva proteins Salp15 and Iric-1 from E. coli.
FEBS Open Bio 2014;
5:42-55. [PMID:
25628987 PMCID:
PMC4305620 DOI:
10.1016/j.fob.2014.12.002]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2014] [Revised: 12/19/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Tick saliva proteins Salp15 and Iric-1 promote tick feeding and pathogen transmission.
We established the first bacterial expression system for soluble Salp15 and Iric-1.
Using this system we mapped monoclonal antibody epitopes on Salp15 and Iric-1.
We defined the interaction sites with Borrelia outer surface protein C (OspC).
We elucidated first secondary structure features in Iric-1 by NMR.
Ticks transmit numerous pathogens, including borreliae, which cause Lyme disease. Tick saliva contains a complex mix of anti-host defense factors, including the immunosuppressive cysteine-rich secretory glycoprotein Salp15 from Ixodes scapularis ticks and orthologs like Iric-1 from Ixodesricinus. All tick-borne microbes benefit from the immunosuppression at the tick bite site; in addition, borreliae exploit the binding of Salp15 to their outer surface protein C (OspC) for enhanced transmission. Hence, Salp15 proteins are attractive targets for anti-tick vaccines that also target borreliae. However, recombinant Salp proteins are not accessible in sufficient quantity for either vaccine manufacturing or for structural characterization. As an alternative to low-yield eukaryotic systems, we investigated cytoplasmic expression in Escherichia coli, even though this would not result in glycosylation. His-tagged Salp15 was efficiently expressed but insoluble. Among the various solubility-enhancing protein tags tested, DsbA was superior, yielding milligram amounts of soluble, monomeric Salp15 and Iric-1 fusions. Easily accessible mutants enabled epitope mapping of two monoclonal antibodies that, importantly, cross-react with glycosylated Salp15, and revealed interaction sites with OspC. Free Salp15 and Iric-1 from protease-cleavable fusions, despite limited solubility, allowed the recording of 1H–15N 2D NMR spectra, suggesting partial folding of the wild-type proteins but not of Cys-free variants. Fusion to the NMR-compatible GB1 domain sufficiently enhanced solubility to reveal first secondary structure elements in 13C/15N double-labeled Iric-1. Together, E. coli expression of appropriately fused Salp15 proteins may be highly valuable for the molecular characterization of the function and eventually the 3D structure of these medically relevant tick proteins.
Collapse