Molecular cloning of actinohivin, a novel anti-HIV protein from an actinomycete, and its expression in Escherichia coli.
Syncytium-inducing variants of the HIV-1 virus are correlated with poor diagnosis and rapid disease progression. We have recently discovered a novel anti-HIV protein, referred to as actinohivin, that inhibits syncytium formation. Here we describe the cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding actinohivin from the actinomycete strain K97-0003, and its expression in Escherichia coli. The actinohivin gene was located on a 0.8-kb BamHI fragment of genomic DNA. The fragment contained an open reading frame of 480 bp, which encoded a protein of 160 amino acids with calculated molecular weight of 17492.7. The N-terminal region was found to be a typical signal peptide of prokaryotes, and actinohivin was located at amino acid positions 46-160. The actinohivin gene could be expressed in E. coli using a pET30Xa/LIC expression vector and the purified recombinant actinohivin was found to inhibit syncytium formation to a similar extent as actinohivin from its natural source.
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kitasato University, Shirokane, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8641, Japan.
J
J
Inokoshi
H
H
Chiba
S
S
Asanuma
A
A
Takahashi
S
S
Omura
H
H
Tanaka
D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014162:Transfection
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C424136:actinohivin protein, actinomycete