Prokaryotic expression and in vitro functional analysis of IL-1β and MCP-1 from guinea pig

The Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) is an excellent animal model for studying human tuberculosis (TB) and also for a number of other infectious and non-infectious diseases. One of the major roadblocks in effective utilization of this animal model is the lack of readily available immunological reagents. In order to address this issue, guinea pig interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were efficiently cloned and expressed in a prokaryotic expression vector, and the expressed proteins in soluble form from both the genes were confirmed by N-terminal sequencing. The biological activity of recombinant guinea pig IL-1β was demonstrated by its ability to drive proliferation in thymocytes, and the recombinant guinea pig MCP-1 exhibited chemotactic activity for guinea pig resident peritoneal macrophages. These biologically active recombinant guinea pig proteins will facilitate an in-depth understanding of the role they play in the immune responses of the guinea pig to TB and other diseases.