[Expression of a shrimp Kunitz-type protease inhibitor in Pichia pastoris and activity analysis]

SKPI (shrimp Kunitz-type protease inhibitor) from Marsupenaeus japonicus is a member of serine protease inhibitors which play an important role in the arthropod immunity. To fully understand its function in the innate immunity of shrimp, the skpi gene was cloned into a modified pPIC9K vector with a 6-His tag and expressed by Pichia pastoris GS115. The secretory SKPI was purified from the medium with high purity by using Ni Sepharose High Performance. This results also indicated that the purified SKPI could inhibit the activity of trypsin specifically.