title: Maltodextrin-binding proteins from diverse bacteria and archaea are potent solubility enhancers.
abstract: Escherichia coli maltose-binding protein (MBP) is frequently used as an affinity tag to facilitate the purification of recombinant proteins. An important additional attribute of MBP is its remarkable ability to enhance the solubility of its fusion partners. MBPs are present in a wide variety of microorganisms including both mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria and archaea. In the present study, we compared the ability of MBPs from six diverse microorganisms (E. coli, Pyrococcus furiosus, Thermococcus litoralis, Vibrio cholerae, Thermotoga maritima, and Yersinia pestis) to promote the solubility of eight different aggregation-prone proteins in E. coli. In contrast to glutathione S-transferase (GST), all of these MBPs proved to be effective solubility enhancers and some of them were even more potent solubilizing agents than E. coli MBP.
authors.affiliation: Protein Engineering Section, Macromolecular Crystallography Laboratory, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, P.O. Box B, Frederick, MD 21702-1201, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Routzahn
authors.forename: Matthew H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bucher
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Waugh
mesh_terms: D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D049690:History, Ancient; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012995:Solubility; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D005982:Glutathione Transferase