Foam fractionation studies of recombinant human apolipoprotein A-I

Apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), the primary protein component of plasma high-density lipoproteins (HDL), is comprised of two structural regions, an N-terminal amphipathic α-helix bundle domain (residues 1-184) and a hydrophobic C-terminal domain (residues 185-243). When a recombinant fusion protein construct [bacterial pelB leader sequence - human apoA-I (1-243)] was expressed in Escherichia coli shaker flask cultures, apoA-I was recovered in the cell lysate. By contrast, when the C-terminal domain was deleted from the construct, large amounts of the truncated protein, apoA-I (1-184), were recovered in the culture medium. Consequently, following pelB leader sequence cleavage in the E. coli periplasmic space, apoA-I (1-184) was secreted from the bacteria. When the pelB-apoA-I (1-184) fusion construct was expressed in a 5 L bioreactor, substantial foam production (~30 L) occurred. Upon foam collection and collapse into a liquid foamate, SDS-PAGE revealed that apoA-I (1-184) was the sole major protein present. Incubation of apoA-I (1-184) with phospholipid vesicles yielded reconstituted HDL (rHDL) particles that were similar in size and cholesterol efflux capacity to those generated with full-length apoA-I. Mass spectrometry analysis confirmed that pelB leader sequence cleavage occurred and that foam fractionation did not result in unwanted protein modifications. The facile nature and scalability of bioreactor-based apolipoprotein foam fractionation provide a novel means to generate a versatile rHDL scaffold protein.