Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford.
Nuvisan ICB GmbH.
J Vis Exp. 2023 Sep 29(199). doi: 10.3791/65878.
Solute carriers (SLCs) are membrane transporters that import and export a range of endogenous and exogenous substrates, including ions, nutrients, metabolites, neurotransmitters, and pharmaceuticals. Despite having emerged as attractive therapeutic targets and markers of disease, this group of proteins is still relatively underdrugged by current pharmaceuticals. Drug discovery projects for these transporters are impeded by limited structural, functional, and physiological knowledge, ultimately due to the difficulties in the expression and purification of this class of membrane-embedded proteins. Here, we demonstrate methods to obtain high-purity, milligram quantities of human SLC transporter proteins using codon-optimized gene sequences. In conjunction with a systematic exploration of construct design and high-throughput expression, these protocols ensure the preservation of the structural integrity and biochemical activity of the target proteins. We also highlight critical steps in the eukaryotic cell expression, affinity purification, and size-exclusion chromatography of these proteins. Ultimately, this workflow yields pure, functionally active, and stable protein preparations suitable for high-resolution structure determination, transport studies, small-molecule engagement assays, and high-throughput in vitro screening.
溶质载体(SLCs)是一类膜转运蛋白,可输入和输出多种内源性和外源性底物,包括离子、营养物、代谢物、神经递质和药物。尽管 SLC 已成为有吸引力的治疗靶点和疾病标志物,但这组蛋白在当前药物中的应用仍然相对较少。这些转运蛋白的药物发现项目受到有限的结构、功能和生理知识的阻碍,最终归结于该类膜嵌入蛋白的表达和纯化困难。在这里,我们展示了使用密码子优化基因序列获得高纯度、毫克级别的人 SLC 转运蛋白的方法。结合对构建体设计和高通量表达的系统探索,这些方案确保了目标蛋白的结构完整性和生化活性得以保留。我们还强调了这些蛋白在真核细胞表达、亲和纯化和尺寸排阻层析中的关键步骤。最终,该工作流程可得到纯的、功能活性的和稳定的蛋白制剂,适用于高分辨率结构测定、转运研究、小分子结合测定和高通量体外筛选。
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