A convenient method for hTfR1 inclusion body purification

Human transferrin receptor, referred as hTfR1, is ubiquitously expressed at low levels in most normal human tissues; however, the expression level of hTfR1 at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and in tumor tissues is relatively higher. hTfR1 is a type II homodimeric transmembrane protein. The extracellular domain of hTfR1 consists of three domains: helical domain, apical, and protease-like domain. In order to prepare hTfR1 antibody, which can be utilized to deliver drugs across BBB through receptor-mediated endocytosis, we began to express the nonligand binding domain of hTfR1 in Escherichia coli BL21 Transetta (DE3). The TfR1 gene was first obtained from HepG2 cells by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and then inserted into pET 32a(c+) vector. The protein was expressed in the form of inclusion body with extremely high purity by the E. coli BL21 Transetta (DE3), and the purity was further improved by size-exclusion chromatography. The Western blot test indicated that the recombinant protein was TfR1 as expected. Above all, this report provided a convenient protocol that could be fulfilled in order to prepare hTfR1 inclusion body, which failed to be purified by an Ni(2+) affinity column.