title: Production of a biologically active recombinant marsupial growth factor using the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris.
abstract: The cytokine stem cell factor (SCF) and its interaction with its receptor c-kit plays an important role in the development of germ cells in eutherians. To investigate the putative roles of the SCF/c-kit system in marsupials, recombinant Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) SCF was purified after secretion by the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. The purification procedure utilized Ni2+ affinity chromatography with a poly-histidine tag engineered onto the C-terminus of the recombinant SCE The recombinant possum SCF had a molecular weight of 48 kDa, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and was biologically active with respect to its ability to maintain and induce proliferation of marsupial primordial germ cells in vitro. Furthermore, the recombinant possum SCF stimulated proliferation of the cell line TF1 and this bioactivity could be inhibited using an antibody directed against recombinant mouse SCF. This source of biologically active marsupial SCF may prove useful in future studies of marsupial development.
authors.affiliation: AgResearch Wallaceville, Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Fidler
authors.forename: Andrea H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Western
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Selwood
authors.forename: Vicki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Stent
authors.forename: Kenneth P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: McNatty
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009532:Nickel; D009893:Opossums / Q000235:genetics*; D010843:Pichia / Q000235:genetics*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D009532:Nickel