title: Large scale expression and purification of the mouse 5-HT3 receptor.
abstract: Receptors of the Cys-loop family are central to neurotransmission and primary therapeutic targets. In order to decipher their gating and modulation mechanisms, structural data is essential. However, structural studies require large amounts of pure, functional receptors. Here, we present the expression and purification of the mouse serotonin 5-HT3 receptor to high purity and homogeneity levels. Inducible expression in human embryonic kidney 293 cells in suspension cultures with orbital shaking resulted in yields of 6-8mg receptor per liter of culture. Affinity purification using a strep tag provided pure protein in active form. Further deglycosylation and removal of the purification tag led to a pentameric receptor after size-exclusion chromatography, at the milligram scale. This material is suitable for crystallography, as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction of receptor crystals at low resolution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Polymers and Membranes, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ghérici
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hassaine
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deluz
authors.forename: Menno B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Tol
authors.forename: Xiao-Dan
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Graff
authors.forename: Horst
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.forename: Hugues
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nury
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D003460:Crystallization; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006031:Glycosylation; D051379:Mice; D044406:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT3 / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D044406:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT3; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
keywords: Cys-loop receptor; Heterologous expression; Pentameric ligand-gated ion channel; X-ray diffraction