Expression and purification of recombinant mouse CRISP4 using a baculovirus system

Cysteine-rich secretory protein 4 (CRISP4) is a member of the CAP superfamily protein, is highly expressed in the male reproductive tract and is required for optimal mammalian fertility. CRISPs are characterized by the presence of 16 conserved cysteine residues which forms 8 disulphide bond spread across the N-terminal CAP domain, a hinge region and a C-terminal ion channel regulatory (ICR) domain. Previous attempts to purify recombinant CRISPs as a group have resulted in misfolded and/or insoluble recombinant proteins, protein aggregates or unusable low protein yield. Thus, defining the functions of CRISPs have been impeded. In this study, we report a three-step purification protocol for expression and purification of mouse CRISP4 protein in High Five™ cells using a baculovirus expression system. Recombinant mouse CRISP4 was recognized by western blotting and structurally characterized using Circular Dichroism (CD). Using the protocol described herein, we generated high yields of soluble and correctly folded recombinant mouse CRISP4.