Jan 04, 2023

Public workspaceRecombinant expression and purification of HIV-1 RT

  • 1Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago, Chile;
  • 2Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile;
  • 3Open Bioeconomy Lab, University of Cambridge
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Protocol CitationJaviera A Avilés, Tamara Matute, Isaac Sir Núñez, Maira Rivera, Javiera Reyes, Jennifer Molloy, Cesar A Ramirez-Sarmiento, Fernan Federici 2023. Recombinant expression and purification of HIV-1 RT. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.3byl4jzyjlo5/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,  which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: January 04, 2023
Last Modified: January 04, 2023
Protocol Integer ID: 74741
Funders Acknowledgement:
ANID Millennium Science Initiative Program
Grant ID: ICN17_022
ANID CONCYTEC
Grant ID: covbio0012
Abstract
This protocol has been optimized for the recombinant expression of HIV-1 RT. The sequence of the plasmid encoding HIV-1 RT can be found on reclone.org.

The goal of this protocol was to eliminate the use of large volumes for dialysis and its fast buffer exchange into storage conditions.


Materials
MATERIALS
ReagentSodium phosphate monobasic monohydrateSigma AldrichCatalog #S9638
ReagentPMSFSigma AldrichCatalog #P7626
ReagentSodium phosphate dibasicSigma AldrichCatalog #7558-79-4
ReagentDTTSigma AldrichCatalog #D0632
ReagentImidazoleSigmaCatalog #I5513
ReagentNaClSigma AldrichCatalog #53014
ReagentHisTrap FF Crude ColumnGe HealthcareCatalog #17528601
ReagentGlycerolSigma AldrichCatalog #G5516
ReagentDextroseSigma – AldrichCatalog #D9434
ReagentTween-20Sigma AldrichCatalog #P9416
ReagentEDTASigma AldrichCatalog #ED2SS
ReagentTrizma BaseContributed by usersCatalog #93362
ReagentLysozymeThermo Fisher ScientificCatalog #89833
ReagentAmicon Ultra-15 Centrifugal Filter UnitEmd MilliporeCatalog #UFC910024

Buffer A, pH 8.0
Concentration50 millimolar (mM) NaPO4, pH 8.0
Concentration50 millimolar (mM) dextrose
Concentration300 millimolar (mM) NaCl
Concentration1 millimolar (mM) EDTA
Concentration0.1 % volume Tween-20
Concentration40 millimolar (mM) Imidazole, pH 8.0

Buffer B, pH 8.0
Concentration50 millimolar (mM) Tris-HCl, pH 8.0
Concentration300 millimolar (mM) NaCl
Concentration1 millimolar (mM) EDTA
Concentration0.1 % volume Tween-20
Concentration10 % volume Glycerol
Concentration40 millimolar (mM) Imidazole, pH 8.0


Buffer C, pH 8.0
Concentration50 millimolar (mM) Tris-HCl, pH 8.0
Concentration300 millimolar (mM) NaCl
Concentration1 millimolar (mM) EDTA
Concentration0.1 % volume Tween-20
Concentration10 % volume Glycerol
Concentration150 millimolar (mM) Imidazole, pH 8.0

Buffer D, pH 8.0
Concentration50 millimolar (mM) Tris-HCl, pH 8.0
Concentration300 millimolar (mM) NaCl
Concentration1 millimolar (mM) EDTA
Concentration0.1 % volume Tween-20

Storage Conditions
Concentration25 millimolar (mM) Tris-HCl, pH 8.0
Concentration150 millimolar (mM) NaCl
Concentration0.5 millimolar (mM) EDTA
Concentration5 millimolar (mM) DTT
Concentration0.05 % volume Tween-20
Concentration50 % volume Glycerol
DAY 1 – Plasmid transformation
DAY 1 – Plasmid transformation
1d
1d
Transform Amount100 ng of plasmid containing HIV-1 RT into E. coli BL21(DE3) competent cells using either heat shock or electroporation.
2h
Spread transformed cells in LB Agar plates supplemented with Concentration0.05 mg/mL Kan. Grow plate overnight at Temperature37 °C .
12h
DAY 2 – Preinoculum
DAY 2 – Preinoculum
1d
1d
Select a single colony from the LB agar plate to prepare a preinoculum in Amount10 mL LB media supplemented with Concentration0.05 mg/mL Kan. Grow overnight at Shaker250 rpm, 37°C .
1d
DAY 3 – Protein Overexpression
DAY 3 – Protein Overexpression
1d
1d
Use the full volume of the preinoculum to inoculate Amount1 L of LB media supplemented with Concentration0.05 mg/mL Kan (1% inoculation). Grow at Shaker250 rpm, 37°C until reaching an optical density at 600 nm (OD600) = 0.8.
4h
Upon reaching OD600 = 0.8, add Concentration0.5 millimolar (mM) IPTG and incubate for 2h at Shaker220 rpm, 37°C .
2h
DAY 4 – Protein Purification by IMAC
DAY 4 – Protein Purification by IMAC
6h
6h
Centrifuge the cell culture Centrifigation4000 x g, 4°C, 00:20:00 .Then, resuspend the cell pellet in Amount50 mL of Buffer A freshly supplemented with Concentration0.5 millimolar (mM) PMSF and Concentration0.2 mg/mL lysozyme.

30m
Incubate the resuspended cells Shaker80 rpm, Room temperature , 00:30:00 .
30m
Sonicate on ice for Duration00:04:00 using cycles of Duration00:00:06 ON and Duration00:00:06 OFF at 40% amplitude (Qsonica Q125, 125W).
30m
Centrifuge the unclarified lysate Centrifigation20000 x g, 4°C, 00:20:00 and collect the supernatant. You might want to collect a small sample for SDS-PAGE afterwards.
30m
On a 1 mL HisTrap column (Ge Healthcare) preequilibrated with 10 column volumes (c.v.) (here, 10 mL) of Buffer A, load the supernant. Wash with 10 c.v. of Buffer A. Then, wash with 10 c.v. of Buffer B, and elute with 5 c.v. of Buffer C, collecting the eluted fractions every Amount0.5 mL in 1.5 ml tubes.
1h
To quickly pool the fractions containing the protein of interest, prepare a 96-well plate or 1.5 mL tubes with Amount40 µL of Bradford reagent and Amount160 µL of distilled water. Then, add Amount10 µL of each protein fraction and compare against a blank reference sample corresponding to Amount10 µL of Buffer C. You can determine your protein-containing fractions either by absorbance at 595 nm on a plate reader or visually by comparing the blue coloration of each fraction against the blank reference. Pool your fractions and collect a Amount10 µL sample for SDS-PAGE
5m
To decrease the imidazole concentration, perform a buffer exchange step with an Amicon Ultra-15 concentrator (Merck Millipore). Centrifuge Centrifigation3000 x g, 10°C, 00:10:00 , discard the flowthrough, add Buffer D to decrease the imidazole concentration and repeat this step, until the imidazole concentration reaches < 30 mM.
40m
Recover the concentrated protein and determine its concentration using the Bradford assay. Also, collect a Amount10 µL sample for SDS-PAGE.
5m
For storage, supplement your pooled fraction with Concentration10 millimolar (mM) DTT. Then, add glycerol up to Concentration50 % volume to reach Storage Conditions. Do consider that a final protein concentration of Concentration1 mg/mL is appropriate for subsequent experiments.
5m
Generate Amount200 µL aliquots of the enzyme and store it at Temperature-20 °C until required.
30m
IMAC SDS-PAGE Result
IMAC SDS-PAGE Result
10m
10m

Expected result