Expression of human vascular endothelial growth factor receptor Flt-1 extracellular domain 1-3 loop cDNA in Pichia pastoris, purification of the expressed product and detection of its biological activity.

OBJECTIVE: To express human vascular endothelial growth factor receptor Flt-1 extracellular domain 1-3 loop cDNA in Pichia. pastroris, and to purify the expressed product and detect its biological activity. METHODS: By inserting human Flt-1 (1-3 loop) cDNA coding 316 amino acid residues into Pichia pastoris expression vector pPIC9K containing AOX1 promoter and the sequences of alpha secreting signal peptides, a recombinant expression plasmid pPIC9K/Flt-1 (1-3) was constructed and transformed to yeast host strain GS115, then His+ Muts phenotype transformant was screened out and cultured in flasks, and Flt-1 (1-3) was expressed under the induction of 1% methanol. RESULTS: SDS-PAGE showed that after being induced with 1% methanol for 4d, the expressed product existed in supernatant in the form of soluble molecule and contained 60% of total protein expressed. Western blot showed good antigenicity and specificity of expressed product. After being purified by CM-Sepharose FF and Sephacryl S-100 chromatography, the purity of the expressed product reached above 90%. Biological assay proved that the expressed product could bind to hVEGF165 and inhibit the proliferation of HUVEC stimulated by hVEGF165. CONCLUSION: Human vascular endothelial growth factor receptor Flt-1 extracellular domain 1-3 loop was successfully expressed. The study lays a foundation for further application of the expressed product in the treatment of vasoformation related diseases, such as tumor and diabetic retinopathy.