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Automated alkaline lysis for industrial scale cGMP production of pharmaceutical grade plasmid-DNA.

Plasmid DNA for biopharmaceutical applications is mainly produced in E. coli cells. The first and most crucial step for recovering the plasmid is the cell lysis. Governed by the physico-chemical properties of the polynucleotide, alkaline lysis has been the lysis-method of choice. This chemical disintegration technique was initially developed for the lab scale and non-pharmaceutical applications. A continuous, fully automated and closed system combining alkaline lysis, neutralization and clarification in one gentle and generic operation was developed. This system consists of a three units. One unit controls mixing and contact time during the alkaline treatment, another one controls the neutralization and the concurrent formation of flocs and a third one the separation of flocs and pDNA containing lysate. Based on optimization experiments the selected process parameters resulted in yields up to 100% and homogeneities comparable to that obtained by gentle manual lysis. The process does not need enzymes and it is scalable and routinely used for cGMP-production of pharmaceutical grade plasmid DNA from 200 L fermentations.

Automation↗

Crystal structure of MltA from Escherichia coli reveals a unique lytic transglycosylase fold.

Lytic transglycosylases are bacterial enzymes involved in the maintenance and growth of the bacterial cell-wall peptidoglycan. They cleave the beta-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds in peptidoglycan forming non-reducing 1,6-anhydromuropeptides. The crystal structure of the lytic transglycosylase MltA from Escherichia coli without a membrane anchor was solved at 2.0A resolution. The enzyme has a fold completely different from those of the other known lytic transglycosylases. It contains two domains, the largest of which has a double-psi beta-barrel fold, similar to that of endoglucanase V from Humicola insolens. The smaller domain also has a beta-barrel fold topology, which is weakly related to that of the RNA-binding domain of ribosomal proteins L25 and TL5. A large groove separates the two domains, which can accommodate a glycan strand, as shown by molecular modelling. Several conserved residues, one of which is in a position equivalent to that of the catalytic acid of the H.insolens endoglucanase, flank this putative substrate-binding groove. Mutation of this residue, Asp308, abolished all activity of the enzyme, supporting the direct participation of this residue in catalysis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Bistability and switching in the lysis/lysogeny genetic regulatory network of bacteriophage lambda.

Bistability and switching are two important aspects of the genetic regulatory network of lambda phage. Positive and negative feedbacks are key regulatory mechanisms in this network. By the introduction of threshold values, the developmental pathway of lambda phage is divided into different stages. If the protein level reaches a threshold value, positive or negative feedback will be effective and regulate the process of development. Using this regulatory mechanism, we present a quantitative model to realize bistability and switching of lambda phage based on experimental data. This model gives descriptions of decisive mechanisms for different pathways in induction. A stochastic model is also introduced for describing statistical properties of switching in induction. A stochastic degradation rate is used to represent intrinsic noise in induction for switching the system from the lysogenic pathway to the lysis pathway. The approach in this paper represents an attempt to describe the regulatory mechanism in genetic regulatory network under the influence of intrinsic noise in the framework of continuous models.

Bacteriolysis↗

Bacteriophage endolysins--current state of research and applications.

Endolysins are phage-encoded enzymes that break down bacterial peptidoglycan at the terminal stage of the phage reproduction cycle. Their action is tightly regulated by holins, by membrane arrest, and by conversion from their inactive to active state. Recent research has not only revealed the unexpected diversity of these highly specific hydrolases but has also yielded insights into their modular organization and their three-dimensional structures. Their N-terminal catalytic domains are able to target almost every possible bond in the peptidoglycan network, and their corresponding C-terminal cell wall binding domains target the enzymes to their substrate. Owing to their specificity and high activity, endolysins have been employed for various in vitro and in vivo aims, in food science, in microbial diagnostics, and for treatment of experimental infections. Clearly, phage endolysins represent great tools for use in molecular biology, biotechnology and in medicine, and we are just beginning to tap this potential.

Bacteriolysis↗

Resistance of spheroplasts and whole cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to bactericidal activity of various biocides: evidence of the membrane implication.

To emphasise the role of outer and inner membranes in the resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to bactericidal activity of various disinfectants, spheroplasts and whole cells were compared. Spheroplasts are more sensitive than whole cells to quaternary ammonium compounds such as didecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide (DDAB) and C16-benzalkonium chloride. The outer membrane acts as a barrier to prevent these disinfectants from entering the cell. It seems to have no influence on activities of smaller molecules such as C12, C14-benzalkonium chlorides and sodium dichloroisocyanurate. For tri-sodium phosphate, the presence of outer membrane emphasized the action of the molecule. Moreover, resistance of DDAB-adapted spheroplasts to bactericidal activity of DDAB is higher than the resistance of non-adapted spheroplasts. This suggests that the inner membrane could also play a role in resistance to DDAB.

Anti-Infective Agents, Local↗

Lytic enzyme, labiase for a broad range of Gram-positive bacteria and its application to analyze functional DNA/RNA.

The lytic activity of labiase and achromopeptidase for bacterial DNA/RNA extraction were compared. Rapid lysis of many bacterial strains was observed with labiase followed by SDS treatment. Both labiase and achromopeptidase showed high lytic activity against bacterial strains with the A1alpha chemotype (e.g., Aerococcus viridans) and the A3alpha chemotype (e.g., Staphylococcus epidermidis) for cell wall peptidoglycan structures. The lytic activity of labiase was higher than that of achromopeptidase against strains with the A1gamma chemotype (e.g., Bacillus subtilis). The activity of labiase was not detrimentally affected with increasing NaCl concentration. Labiase lysates were successfully used for rapid extraction of DNA and RNA, whereas achromopeptidase lysates degraded RNA. The DNA and RNA obtained were successfully used for 16S rRNA amplification and real-time RT-PCR detection. It is concluded that labiase is useful for rapid lysis of a wide variety of Gram-positive bacteria and can be used for DNA/RNA isolation protocols.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

Estimating amplification efficiency improves multiplex real-time PCR quantification of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis spores in animal feed.

A multiplex real-time PCR assay was developed for absolute quantification in animal feed of Bacillus subtilis CH201 and Bacillus licheniformis CH200 spores, which constitute the viable component of the microbial growth promoter, BioPlus 2B. Spores were lysed using a bead-beating protocol. DNA was extracted and purified from the lysates with the Qiagen DNeasy Plant Kit. Two standard curves for absolute quantification were made and tested. Standard curve-1 was made from feed samples spiked with BioPlus 2B, while standard curve-2 was made from serially diluted DNA extracted from BioPlus 2B powder. Feed samples supplemented with BioPlus 2B were quantified using both standard curves. The detection limit of the assay was 10(4) CFU g(-1) of feed. The amplification efficiency (Eff) of each PCR was determined using the LinRegPCR software and Eff differences between individual samples and standards were corrected for. When compared to plate counts, standard curve-1 slightly under-estimated the number of spores (mean=-2.47% of plate counts). A spore density-dependent Eff was found, and Eff for standard curve-1 could not be determined. Standard curve-2 over-estimated spore numbers when not corrected for individual Eff (mean=+5.46% of plate counts). Standard curve-2 Eff was independent (Eff(mean)=1.96) of spore density. The assay quantified the numbers of spores in feed samples very similar to plate counts (mean=+0.47% of plate counts), when standard curve-2 was used and individual Eff was accounted for.

Animal Feed↗

Molecular cloning of an invertebrate goose-type lysozyme gene from Chlamys farreri, and lytic activity of the recombinant protein.

Lysozyme is a widely distributed hydrolase possessing lytic activity against bacterial peptidoglycan, which enables it to protect the host against pathogenic infection. In the present study, the cDNA of an invertebrate goose-type lysozyme (designated CFLysG) was cloned from Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri by expressed sequence tag (EST) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) techniques. The full-length cDNA of CFLysG consisted of 829 nucleotides with a canonical polyadenylation signal sequence AATAAA and a poly(A) tail, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 603 bp encoding a polypeptide of 200 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular weight of 21.92 kDa and theoretical isoelectric point of 7.76. The high similarity of CFLysG with goose-type (g-type) lysozymes in vertebrate indicated that CFLysG should be an invertebrate counterpart of g-type lysozyme family, which suggested that the origin of g-type lysozyme preceded the emergence of urochordates and even preceded the emergence of deuterostomes. Similar to most g-type lysozymes, CFLysG possessed all conserved features critical for the fundamental structure and function of g-type lysozymes, such as three catalytic residues (Glu 82, Asp 97, Asp 108). By Northern blot analysis, mRNA transcript of CFLysG was found to be most abundantly expressed in the tissues of gills, hepatopancreas and gonad, weakly expressed in the tissues of haemocytes and mantle, while undetectable in the adductor muscle. These results suggested that CFLysG could possess combined features of both the immune and digestive adaptive lysozymes. To gain insight into the in vitro lytic activities of CFLysG, the mature peptide coding region was cloned into Pichia pastoris for heterogeneous expression. Recombinant CFLysG showed inhibitive effect on the growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with more potent activities against Gram-positive bacteria, which indicated the involvement of CFLysG in the innate immunity of C. farreri.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Development of a large-scale HPLC-based purification for the urease from Staphylococcus leei and determination of subunit structure.

Coagulase-positive Staphylococcus species, related to but distinct from the genetic homology group containing Staphylococcus cohnii, Staphylococcus xylosus, and Staphylococcus saphrophyticus, were isolated from biopsy material obtained from a cluster of patients in Korea suffering from gastritis. The prototype isolate, Staphylococcus leei, has high urease activity that is similar with respect to a low K(m) value and acid resistance of the urease found in the stomach adapted pathogen, Helicobacter pylori. S. leei is remarkably resistant to lysis and only a small fraction of the cells are broken using sonication, a French press, Niro homogenizer, or a Gaulin mill. In the present report, we describe an efficient cell lysis procedure for S. leei using three passes through a Dynomill with 0.5mm glass beads that results in lysis of more than 95% of the cells. We also developed an efficient and large-scale purification procedure for the S. leei urease using a BioCAD HPLC Workstation using Q-Sepharose, Poros HP2, Sephacryl S-300, and hydroxyapatite chromatography. The urease of S. leei was purified 98-fold to a specific activity of 731U/mg. The urease protein is composed of three subunits, alpha (65kDa), beta (21kDa), and gamma (12kDa), and in situ enzyme assay and molecular sieve chromatography indicate that multiple high molecular weight forms are present, including an apparent pentamer of 1:1:1 alphabetagamma-heterotrimers of 480kDa. This purification procedure was used to purify 16mg of enzyme from 120-liters of cell culture. This improved lysis and purification procedure will make it possible to obtain sufficient quantities of urease for use as an antigen in ELISA assays to carry out studies to determine the incidence and demographic prevalence of gastritis due to S. leei.

Acrylic Resins↗

Strategies to maximize heterologous protein expression in Escherichia coli with minimal cost.

Automation and miniaturization are key issues of high-throughput research projects in the post-genomic era. The implementation of robotics and parallelization has enabled researchers to process large numbers of protein targets for structural studies in a short time with reasonable cost efficiency. However, the cost of implementing the robotics and parallelization often prohibit their use in the traditional academic laboratory. Fortunately, multiple groups have made significant efforts to minimize the cost of heterologous protein expression for the production of protein samples in quantities suitable for high resolution structural studies. In this review, we describe recent efforts to continue to minimize the cost for the parallel processing of multiple protein targets and focus on those materials and strategies that are highly suitable for the traditional academic laboratory.

Bacteriological Techniques↗

Improving purification of recombinant human interferon gamma expressed in Escherichia coli; effect of removal of impurity on the process yield.

Process development and optimization studies were performed in order to improve the purification process of (rhIFN-gamma). The objective was to generate material with higher purity and quantity. An in-process control screening was developed to obtain the optimal condition for column chromatographic purification by measuring LPS, nucleic acids, rhIFN- gamma, monomer and its covalent dimers. A new resin screening method was applied to select optimal resin for each of the chromatographic columns. The resulting process used Butyl and Q-Sepharose, refolding and SP-Sepharose for purification of IFN-gamma. Effects of different process conditions such as cell lysis, removal of impurity and oxygen concentration were evaluated. Removal of impurities was evaluated by washing of inclusion bodies with 1% Triton X-100 and 3M urea and different chromatography steps. The results reveal that Triton removed about 43% of the LPS but urea had no effect on removal of nucleic acids and LPS. Further analysis show that removal of impurities by column chromatography decreases aggregation and increases the process yield. Oxygen concentration was identified as parameter that could have a significant impact on covalent dimers formation, as an unacceptable pharmaceutical form of rhIFN-gamma. On the basis of small-scale studies, optimum operating conditions were chosen and the purification process was successfully scaled-up to a pilot scale process with step yield and product quality that were better than previous reports.

Anilides↗

Identification of antimicrobial peptide regions derived from genomic sequences of phage lysins.

This study was designed to test the possibility that antimicrobial peptides could be derived from the genomic sequences of phage lysins. Using two lysins (D3 and PhiKZ) we selected and produced two putative peptides (X and Z, respectively) believed to possess antimicrobial properties based on their physicochemical characteristics. The data presented support this hypothesis in that the peptides and various analogs displayed antibacterial activity, bacteriostatic or bactericidal, either individually or upon combination. These putative peptides are believed to act by a mechanism of action resembling that of conventional antimicrobial peptides when judged by both structural and functional criteria. Thus, the peptides are shown to have the ability to form a helical structure, to bind to model bacterial membranes and permeabilize model liposomes. They also display rapid bactericidal kinetics and their antibacterial potency is increased upon amidation. The possible relevance of these results in contributing to potency of phage lysins is discussed. Such peptides may be used to design new potent antimicrobial compounds much needed in face of the ever threatening drug resistance problems.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Use of flow cytometry for analysis of phage-mediated killing of Enterobacter aerogenes.

In this study, the use of flow cytometry to analyze phage-mediated killing of Enterobacter aerogenes under varying conditions of temperature and nutrient availability was assessed. Bacteriophage UZ1, specific for an E. aerogenes strain, was applied at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1 and 1000 to a Teflon surface, artificially infected with its host at a level of 4.5 log cells. After incubation for 20 h, bacteriophages were quantified using the soft agar layer method. For the quantification of bacterial cells, plate counting and flow cytometric analysis of live/dead stained cells were performed in parallel. At an MOI of 1, phage treatment was successful only after incubation under nutrient-rich conditions at 37 degrees C: E. aerogenes cells were not detected and a tenfold increase in phage UZ1 was observed. At a MOI of 1000, no E. aerogenes cells could be cultured after incubation at 37 and 4 degrees C. However, flow cytometric analysis revealed that lysis did not occur at 4 degrees C but was achieved during subsequent plate culture. In conclusion, the use of flow cytometry enabled identification of culture-based bias during plate culture. The flow cytometric assay used in this study proved to be rapid, as this culture-independent method does not require lengthy incubation periods post-sampling. The bacteriophage-mediated killing of E. aerogenes cells on Teflon surfaces indicated that disinfection of E. aerogenes with bacteriophage UZ1 can be successful when high MOIs are achieved, while at low multiplicities of infection conditions favorable for phage replication are required.

Bacteriolysis↗

Temperature effect on aerobic biodegradation of feces using sawdust as a matrix.

Temperature is one of the most important factors affecting microbial growth and biological reactions. In this study, the effect of temperature on aerobic biodegradation of feces is described through the comparison and analysis of experimental oxygen utilization rates (OUR) profiles obtained from batch tests conducted at several temperatures covering mainly mesophilic and thermophilic ranges. Additionally, the temperature effect was incorporated into the bio-kinetic model introduced by Lopez Zavala et al. (Water Res 38(5) (2004) 1327) and simulation of experimental OUR profiles was conducted. Results show that mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms behaved differently to temperature; additionally, results suggest that the optimum temperature from the viewpoint of feces biodegradability is within the thermophilic range, nearly 60 degrees C. The enzymatic activity of microorganisms at 70 degrees C was remarkably diminished. For better predictions in the mesophilic range, two fractions of slowly biodegradable organic matter were identified, easily hydrolyzable organic matter (X(Se)) and slowly hydrolyzable organic matter (X(Ss)).

Bacteria, Aerobic↗

Influence of cefmenoxime, ceftriaxone, latamoxef, and ceftazidime on the lysis of Klebsiella pneumoniae: a light and electron microscopic study.

The influence of antibiotics on the morphologic alterations of the cell wall of Klebsiella pneumoniae serotype K 17 has been studied by electron microscopy as well as by phase-contrast microscopy. Ceftazidime, cefmenoxime, ceftriaxone, and latamoxef were the antibiotics used. The effect of each concentration between 0.03 and 1,024 mg/liter was investigated on 5 X 10(7) bacteria per milliliter. Two different reactions could be detected: ceftazidime and latamoxef produced at first long forms and suddenly lysis; cefmenoxime and ceftriaxone produced at first long forms, later spherical forms, and then gradually lysis.

Bacteriolysis↗