High-level expression of staphylococcal nuclease A in Escherichia coli

The staphylococcal nuclease A gene has been successfully cloned and overexpressed in E. coli under the transcriptional control of the bacteriophage lambda PRPL promoters regulated by the temperature sensitive repressors. The SDS-PAGE analysis demonstrates that the nuclease A is produced to the extent of as much as 60% of the total cellular protein. The N-terminal analysis of the nuclease A shows that the amino terminal formyl methionine residue of the enzyme is precisely processed. The recombinant nuclease A with full activity is finally obtained after appropriate solubilization--denaturation and renaturation treatment. The conformational identity of the renatured nuclease A in different conditions is also studied by using hydrophobic interaction chromatography on a phenyl-superose HR5/5 column.