One-step immunoaffinity purification of human beta 1 thyroid hormone receptor with DNA and hormone binding activity

An efficient and versatile method to purify large amounts of active human beta 1 thyroid hormone receptor (h-TR beta 1) was developed. Using a T7 expression system, h-TR beta 1 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Approx. 80% of the expressed receptor protein was concentrated in the insoluble inclusion bodies and approximately 20% was in the soluble form (h-TR beta 1-S). h-TR beta 1-S was conveniently purified by one immunoaffinity chromatographic step. From 1 l of cell culture, approx. 0.1 mg of purified h-TR beta 1-S was obtained. The purified h-TR beta 1-S binds to 3,3',5-triiodo-L-thyronine with a Ka = 2 x 10(9) M-1 and exhibits analog specificity. The purified h-TR beta 1-S also binds to T3 response elements (TRE) with different orientation in the half-sites with differential activity. In addition, binding of h-TR beta 1-S to TREs was enhanced by retinoid X receptor. These results indicate that the purified h-TR beta 1-S retains its hormone and DNA binding activity. The purified h-TR beta 1-S is suitable for structural and functional studies. This method could be used to purify h-TR beta 1 or rat TR beta 1 expressed in insect cells or yeast.