[Purification and characterization of recombinant human alpha-fetoprotein fragment, corresponding to the C-terminal...

Human alpha-fetoprotein (hAFP) is the main human oncofetal protein. Receptor of hAFP is expressed on the surface of different types of cancer cells, but not produced by normal cells of the adult organism. The hAFP interacts with the receptor via its third domain. The conjugates of native hAFP with a variety of natural cytostatic agents inhibit growth of cancer cells in vivo and in vitro. The C-terminal hAFP fragment comprising amino acids from 404 to 595 of the native hAFP was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) strain. The level of the protein expression was no less than 150 mg/l. Highly efficient purification and refolding procedures were developed. The final protein yield was no less than 50% with purity of about 95%. Refolded rAFP3D bound specifically with cancer cells carrying hAFP receptor and was accumulated by them. This rAFP3D can be used as a carrier for the targeted drug delivery to cancer cells.