Chelating peptide-immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography. A new concept in affinity chromatography for recombinant proteins.

We report our experimental results supporting the hypothesis that a specific metal-chelating peptide (CP) on the NH2 terminus of a protein can be used to purify that protein using immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). The potential utility of this approach resides with recombinant proteins since the nucleotide sequence that codes for the protein can be extended to include codons for the chelating peptide and thereby generate the gene for a chimeric CP-protein that can be cloned, expressed, and affinity-purified with immobilized metal ions. The chelating peptide purification handle could then be removed chemically or enzymatically after purification has been achieved to generate a protein with the natural amino acid sequence. The feasibility of using a chelating peptide as a purification handle has been demonstrated using a leuteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) analog, 2-10 LHRH, which contains the previously identified chelating peptide, His-Trp, on the NH2 terminus. 2-10 LHRH had a high affinity for a Ni(II) IMAC column due to the NH2-terminal dipeptide sequence His-Trp, forming a coordination complex with Ni(II), whereas the controls, 3-10 LHRH and 4-10 LHRH, lacking the CP sequence, did not bind. Furthermore, 2-10 LHRH could be purified from a mixture of histidine-containing peptides on a Ni(II) IMAC column in one step. His-Trp proinsulin was used as a model of a recombinant CP-protein. The S-sulfonates of His-Trp-proinsulin and proinsulin were isolated from Escherichia coli engineered to overproduce these proteins as trpLE' fusion proteins. His-Trp-proinsulin(SSO3-)6 had a higher affinity for immobilized Ni(II) than proinsulin (SSO3-)6. Both proteins were eluted by decreasing the pH or by introducing a displacing ligand into the buffer. Ni(II) eluted from the column with much higher concentrations of displacing ligand than the proteins.