[Expression of zinc transporter 8 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its antigenicity analysis]

Zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) is an important candidate antigen for type Ⅰ diabetes. The autoantibody detection kit based on ZnT8 can be used to help diagnose type Ⅰ diabetes, and the related products have been launched in Europe and the United States. Since the recombinant production system of active ZnT8 has not been established in China, this key raw material is heavily dependent on imports. We used Saccharomyces cerevisiae to carry out the recombinant expression of ZnT8. First, multiple antigenic forms of ZnT8 were designed as C-terminal haploid (C), C-terminal diploid (C-C), and N-terminal and C-terminal concatemers (N-C). The proteins were expressed, purified and tested for antigenicity by bridging-type ELISA. The serum of 13 patients with type Ⅰ diabetes and the serum of 16 healthy volunteers were detected. C, N-C, and C-C proteins had similar detection rates, which were 53.8% (7/13), 61.5% (8/13) and 53.8% (7/13). The specificity of the three groups was 100% (16/16). The detection value on positive samples P3, P4, and P8 increased by more than 90%, indicating better serum antibody recognition ability. Finally, N-C protein was selected for further serum sample testing, and the test results were characterized by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for sensitivity and specificity. Compared with imported gold standard antigen, the sensitivity was 76.9% (10/13) and the specificity was 87.5% (14/16). There was no significant difference in the sensitivity of the method, but the specificity needed to be improved. In conclusion, the ZnT8 N-terminal and C-terminal concatemer protein developed based on S. cerevisiae expression system is expected to be a key alternative raw material in the development of in vitro diagnostic reagents for type Ⅰ diabetes.